


Found in The Snow

by Sass_Girl_Kaella



Category: Overwatch (Video Game)
Genre: Adventure, Alpha/Beta/Omega Dynamics, Alpha/Beta/Omega universe, Alternate Universe - Soulmates, Angst, F/F, F/M, First Fic!, Fluff, Genji Shimada is a Little Shit, M/M, McCreexHanzo, McHanzo - Freeform, Norse and Greek Mythology, Not Beta'd, OCxOC - Freeform, Okay more than a lil, Please Forgive me, Post-Recall, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Romance, Seven Deadly Sins, Soulmates, at all, just a lil, lots of fluff
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-07-24
Updated: 2017-10-20
Packaged: 2018-12-06 08:35:37
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 10
Words: 45,090
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11596965
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Sass_Girl_Kaella/pseuds/Sass_Girl_Kaella
Summary: Hanzo Shimada never had a soulmark, and while he had convinced himself it was never a possibility, considering the atrocities he had committed in his life, he found himself longing for the companionship of a soulmate. The other soulmate couple on the Watchpoint was certainly not helping his struggles either. But perhaps they could help him find out why?Edit: I decided to add the Alpha/Beta/Omega verse cuz I fell in love, chapters are being updated to include this, thank you for your patience!--------------------First Mchanzo fic! We got a couple OC's in here cuz they're gonna help our lil bbs come together, first chap is their backstory basically, but we'll get to the fluffiness soon don't you worry :3





	1. New Beginnings

"Y'all get up _way_ too fuckin' early in the morning."

Jesse's head jerked up from staring into his coffee cup at the grouchy declaration from the entrance to the kitchen.

It was Grace. One of Overwatch's newest recruits. The sharp, yet subtle, spike of rosemary indicated her status as fresh out of heat and Jesse smiled, knowing how grouchy the woman could be after the fact. Grace was an Omega, and it was clear that she was damn proud of the fact. She was another person that put stereotypes to shame. Grace was strong, assertive, rational; and Jesse was hard-pressed to remember a time in which her heat had hit her unexpectedly and left her babbling fool. She knew her genetics well and work tirelessly to keep them from inhibiting her uniqueness as a person; Grace always strived towards proving her sub-gender did not define who she is, and she did a damn good job of it. 

The lithe Caucasian woman was mumbling something under her breath as she stomped over to the refrigerator and pulled one of her bottled coffees from a shelf. She unscrewed the cap and gulped down half of the bottle before pulling it from her lips and setting it on the counter with a growl of upset.

Not long after Jesse McCree responded to the recall, Overwatch had barreled into the familiarity of missions. They were few and far between due to the lack of members in the beginning, but Genji's brother, Hanzo, joining Overwatch's ranks seemed to Herald the intake of new recruits. Young, determined heroes in their own right, desperate to make a change in a world that seemed to be falling into ruin.

Hanzo and Satya were only two of the new members that started off frostily keeping their distance from the others; but eventually fell into a familiar sense of comaderie and began mingling with their fellow agents. Hanzo; however, never failed to frustrate Jesse and his sensitive nose. The Alpha could never get a damn read on Hanzo and what his sub-gender could be. Not that Jesse was one to judge a person base on such a thing, but he liked to know which of his fellow Agents to avoid if they happened to go into rut, or heat, or not at all.

Satya, though. Satya was much easier to get a read on, the woman was an Alpha. But she spat in the face of sub-gender stereotypes. While proud, cold and calculative; she had her moments of weakness like every other human. Her scent would very clearly signal her anxiety spikes, or any other emotion that would be considered UN-Alpha like. But, again; Jesse was not one to judge another person based on their sub-gender.

Grace was one of a few new recruits, she was an adorable 5'5" young woman of nineteen. Curves in all the right places and thick, curly brown hair that seemed to fall perfectly to the middle of her back no matter how it was tousled. The woman had once commented to Jesse that she took great care in the upkeep of her appearance, carefully ensuring her hair was always soft and easily tamed. Now she was wearing a black athletic tank top with matching sleek sweat pants that showed off the tribal tattoo of a cat, sitting with its wings extended around and above its head, on her right shoulder.

Despite her apparent softness, which had been made clear as she immediately began making friends with the other agents, a sincere kind of fondness bloomed in her eyes every time she saw another member of her team; Grace was a force to be feared. Her viciousness on the battle field often startled McCree, she took a great deal of joy in a sick game all members indulged in, counting their kills to see who had the most at the end of a mission.

He supposed, with no small amount of somberness, that the game played a large part in keeping the agents sane. Killing was an awful trade, no matter how piteous the cause, or how horrible the person your bullet or arrow strikes down, you were still taking away another life.

He quickly shook the thoughts away, unwilling to settle into the prospect of how many lives he'd taken that could've been entwined with others.

Jesse let his mind trail off to better memories instead, thinking about late nights spent in the rec room, a karaoke machine, good drink, and a hilarious slew of events always put the team in good spirits and created fond memories for them to linger on when darker times stormed on the horizon.

He had to cover a chuckle with a cough at the memory of one a rare occasion in which Grace's hair was not in perfect upkeep, the gunslinger had been strolling through the base late at night, chewing on a cigarillo in effort to cure his incessant insomnia, when she had rounded the corner, glossy eyed, a dreamy smile on her face, and her hair sticking out at odd angles. Her scent giving away her then-current state of being in heat. The wavy mass of curls were fussed into a disproportionate mass, and she radiated an air of satiated Omega.

The cause of such upset to her delicately groomed hair entered the kitchen at that moment, wearing an outfit identical to Grace's, her soulmate, Argenis mumbled a "morning" in greeting to McCree and walking past to Grace. He briefly wrapped his arm around her waist and kissed the top of her head, (to which she nuzzled his chin) before letting his arm slide away and moving to the 'fridge. 

McCree quirked an eyebrow at the Alpha's grumpy mood. Someone didn't get what they wanted last night.

Another member who had been frosty in the beginning. Argenis was the untrusting half of the two, from the moment he stepped off the air ship, pulse rifle rested on his shoulder, he had sized up the Agents of Overwatch. Argenis had a permanent frown on his face, which only lifted in the presence of Grace, or a good joke. He was a soldier, a protector, always on the look out for danger which Hanzo had commented to be a wise decision. Only after prodding by his female counterpart did he begin to mingle and make friends, he preferred the company of Reinhardt and Jesse over the rest however.

Argenis was, for the most part, a stereotypical Alpha: fiercely protective of his mate, aggressive unless Grace stepped in, and very very terrifying when angered. Jesse knew well that they were just some parts of the man that made up who he was; but in McCree's humble opinion, he let the testosterone go to his head a little too often. Though when not in danger or about to go on a mission, the man was rather agreeable, often times it would be him to organize a movie night for all the Agents, or impulsively buy something he thought would be just perfect for someone other than his mate. (Though she did that too, and way too often to be considered normal. Jesse almost had to brace himself for a gift every time she walked up to him. How do does one even hide a _guitar_ that well in the middle of a well-lit hallway?!)

The Hispanic man stood at a strong 6'3", his own rippling muscle rivaled that of Hanzo even. It was obvious that the man had a touch of Greek in him due to his facial features, and name. But Argenis was renowned throughout the base for his love of tequila. Jesse once made the mistake of challenging him to a drinking contest, and after getting a nod of approval from his mate, proceeded to thoroughly own the gunslinger with a total count of 63 shots to 24.

McCree was still ashamed to think on that night, Grace had visibly stiffened when she heard Argenis begin to slur his words. He remembered hearing the younger woman curse under her breath _en espanol_ as she dragged her hammered counterpart to bed.

Jesse looked over the pair now, chuckling as Grace gave an appreciative _smack_ on Argenis' rear end, to which he yelped, then grinned and pulled her to him in an endearing embrace.

They had not been in Overwatch long, perhaps a couple of months. They arrived a day after the exuberant Hana Song had, from the moment they began training with the rest of the team it was obvious the two were soul mates. They worked in tandem at an unparalleled level, Grace with her deadly support with either a pair of handguns she affectionately dubbed " _the twins_ ," or a compact bow with which she used to take up a snipers position on rooftops or rafters, and Argenis with his impressive hand to hand combat. The tank of a man used a pulse rifle when it suited him, but it was clear he preferred to take matters into his own hands; literally.

"Y'know, the world'll keep if we sleep in a couple more fuckin' hours." Grace's grouching roused Jesse from his thoughts. She was speaking to him, leaning on the counter, but her gaze was glued to Argenis' backside.

He chuckled, having gotten used to her foul language long ago. "Yeah, but surely y'know as a fella' cowgirl the finer points of risin' with the sun." She grunted in response, clearly still not pleased with being woken up so early.

Grace cussed like goddamn sailor, he knew it had been mostly influenced by the years she spent living with her mate on an army base in Virginia. While Argenis had been enlisted in the United States Army, she met him through her ex-husband. Having assumed she would never deserve to meet her true mate, she settled for second best, Grace had been surprised when the white half of her _yin-yang_ symbol on her wrist hummed to life when they met.

Jesse's gaze flicked briefly over his own _yin-yang_ half on his wrist. Soulmarks were by no means all the same, but upon discovery that Grace and McCree had matching soulmarks she immediately struck up a friendship, despite their obvious similarities that drew the two Southerners together. Though Jesse had to admit, it was comforting to see that his own tattoo would most likely still be united with the other half somewhere this world.

It was always a pleasant reminder of home when he heard Grace's Southern drawl. The woman currently quietly conversing with Argenis had grown up in Oklahoma, not as far Southwest as Jesse had been, but far enough to adopt the accent well known among ranch folk.

Jesse watched Grace move to the cupboards to gather the ingredients necessary for making pancakes. "Cookin' us breakfast again? You do it every mornin'!" He said, raising a brow at her as she went about preparing the food.

Grace shrugged in response. "Ain't got nothin' better to do. 'Sides it helps me wake up." 

Jesse frowned at her response but shrugged it off, he went to take a sip of coffee only to realize with a grunt of indignation that there was none left in his cup.

He sighed, and stood, deciding he would indeed need a second cup of coffee as other members of their team began to trickle into the kitchen for breakfast.

Breakfast went as usual, groggy, sleep dredged voices slowly brightening as the day began. Lena mumbled something under her breath as she tripped over her own foot while heading over to where Grace was seated.

When Hanzo entered the kitchen he was flagged down by Grace, he raised a finger in gesture for her to wait a moment while he went about making his morning tea.

"Good, now that everyone is here it's time we get started with assignments for the day." Winston announced from the end of the table as Hanzo made his way over to Grace. Jesse watched as she whispered a fervent request and offered a hair tie. Hanzo scowled at her before forcibly turning her around by her shoulders and snatched the proffered tie from her fingers.

Voices slowly quieted to focus on the gorilla adjusting his glasses and looking over a set of papers in his hands.

"Alright, now. Agents Hanzo, McCree, Mercy, Diablo and Tesoro. I would like you five to begin training simulations together. You will be assigned on an upcoming mission in King's Row to extract a contact with sensitive information regarding Talon operations. Grace--" he looked up from his papers to address the female whose hair was currently being French braided by a begrudging Hanzo. "-- in this mission I would ask that you restrict yourself to ground movement with Agent McCree, unless directed otherwise by Agent Hanzo. One sniper should suffice for this mission, but you should prepare a contingency plan in the event that you are needed as one." Grace clicked her tongue and gave a two finger gun salute in acknowledgement.

Winston nodded, though not without raising a brow at her chosen gesture. "Everyone else, continue solo training. We will be conducting smaller reconnaissance missions here and there throughout the weeks preceding the King's Row mission, and we must be vigilant in case of retaliation from Talon after the target has been retrieved."

He turned his face to Angela. "Doctor Ziegler, Agent Lúcio, when you have a moment I wish to discuss with you the possible applications of your particular brands of healing technology to gear used during missions, I think I might have an idea that will no longer require either of you to be so strained during battle." The pair nodded, with Lúcio looking rather excited at the prospect of new ways for his music to work it's healing magic on others.

"Alright, if no one has any concerns, that is all."

Once business was concluded, the members of Overwatch began eating, Grace had cooked a rather large quantity of pancakes prior to the arrival of the rest of their team, and while she never partook in eating breakfast, she was always the one who prepared it for the others.

Jesse's brow furrowed in thought as he stuffed a syrup coated piece in his mouth. Now that he thought about it, he noticed that Grace rarely seemed to eat, though it never affected her performance in the field it was disconcerting nonetheless. Once Hanzo had commented on this observation, to which Grace visibly stiffened, and muttered something about old wounds in response. Argenis hadn't been in the rec room when it happened, but Jesse guessed he felt his mates sudden change of mood through their bond, entering almost immediately after with concern clear on his face as he growled at the elder Shimada to drop the subject.

He would have to ask her about it when he had the chance.

\------------

" _That the best you got, fucker?_ " Grace's laugh sounded over the comm as they went through the training exercise for the upcoming mission.

McCree fired off a shot into the eye of an oncoming 'bot, leaving plenty of room for Argenis to charge through with a dummy propped up on his back.

The line of buildings surrounding him replicated the route they would take on the mission in King's Row down to the last detail. Old timey cobblestone streets made his boots click and spurs jingle with every step, no matter how quiet he attempted to be, and while he struggling to maneuver the uneven roads, Grace had no problem bounding and leaping from the street, to skid across the side of a building firing off a couple shots into the chassis' of two enemy 'bots, and land with the-- well, grace of a damn Swan.

A Swan from hell, he decided as she leaped over Argenis' head. She gunned down three 'bots with startling accuracy, then weaved her way between two buildings.

He looked to his left, a brief flicker of black and white signaled Grace's advance through the alleyway next to him. He nodded to himself, satisfied with her ability to keep up.

He jumped in alarm when the sound of an arrow slamming into the eye of a 'bot behind him drew him out of his thoughts.

" _Pay attention, cowboy. I do not want to be constantly saving your life because you cannot focus._ " Hanzo's voice growled in his ear.

Jesse sputtered and fanned Peacekeepers hammer twice, effectively shooting down two 'bots that were advancing on Argenis. "You just worry about keepin' our _compadre_ here alive." He responded.

" _If y'all are done with your little lovers spat, we're 'bout finished with the exercise._ " Grace laughed, earning a growl of warning from Hanzo and choked noise from McCree. Which only made her laugh louder. " _Round up on the point, we'll have this done in no time!_ "

Jesse rolled his eyes but charged forward behind Argenis, the sound of light footsteps tapping on the roof above him signaled movement from Hanzo as well.

Argenis burst into the church, unceremoniously dropping the dummy on the ground and whooped in success.

Jesse furrowed his Brows after Hanzo dropped onto the floor behind him, Athena should've sounded the end of the exercise. He took stock around the room, Angela hadn't joined them for this exercise to prepare them for the possibility that she would be incapacitated or otherwise unavailable. Hanzo and Argenis stood beside him but Grace was nowhere to be found, he growled and tapped his ear piece.

"Hey, girly. Where ya at? We're all in the church like ya told us to be, so where the hell are ya?"

No response.

Jesse stiffened and turned to her mate, who was staring at the doors with furrowed brows. After a moment Argenis stepped over to them and flung the doors open, walking out and pulling his pulse rifle from its place on his back. He didn't speak but it was clear the man was reaching out to his feminine counterpart through their bond. Argenis stepped forward cautiously, exercise clearly forgotten in favor of finding his mate.

"Gra-" just as Argenis was about to call out to her through the comm an explosion rocked the room. A distant cry could be heard bouncing off the walls and before Jesse could say a word Argenis was racing off in the direction the scream came from.

Jesse was hot on his heels while Hanzo climbed onto the rooftops, knocking a sonic arrow into place he fired it in the direction of the explosion. No heat signatures were revealed, but that didn't mean there wasn't an attack. Even more concerning was the fact that Athena's alarms were silent, was this part of the exercise?

"Grace!" Argenis shouted as he rolled into the street, rifle pointed towards where the explosion had occurred.

Jesse rounded the corner after him, Peacekeeper aimed in the same direction.

What greeted the two was a smoldering pile of 'bots, parts scattered in various directions but it was clear where the explosion originated. Small fires licked at the Red hot metal on the ground and at the sides of the buildings, chunks of concrete littered the area but there was no sign of their comrade. Her scent was there, but with all of the acrid smoke filling the are there was no way Jesse would be able to pinpoint exactly where it was coming from.

McCree tapped his ear piece. "Hanzo? Whatcha' see?"

" _All I can see is the remnants of our practice 'bots. What caused this, Athena?_ " The question was directed to the ever present AI, who gave no response.

Jesse grit his teeth, feeling the hairs on the back of his neck stand on end. "Athena, where is Agent Tesoro?" He could hear his voice rising, worry prickling his thoughts like the spines of a porcupine.

No response.

"Useless piece of shit." Argenis growled beside him and Jesse felt himself stiffen.

Grace was about ninety-percent of Argenis' control, as long as Argenis knew where she was and that she was safe, his self control was incredible, but as soon as the female entered danger, or couldn't be spotted every few minutes, Argenis grew irritable and anxious. Which was fantastic in battle, it kept the larger man on his toes. But Jesse had witnessed the Hispanic male grapple with Hanzo when the Shimada made a careless comment while Grace was in surgery.

Argenis' control over his emotions had improved greatly over the months after his mate introduced him to meditation. He refused to meditate with Zenyatta as she had, and she did not push the matter, happy to simply meditate with her male counterpart in their shared dorm.

Now, he was rooting around the area, calling his mates name frantically, Hanzo fired off another sonic arrow after scanning the debris again. A heat signature popped up behind Jesse, nestled in the remains of a garden buried under debris. Jesse called Argenis over and they made quick work of moving the broken metal plates until they could see what lies beneath.

He heard Argenis release a breath, stooping to pick up his unconscious partner. He tucked his face into her shoulder and listened for a moment, Jesse heard him mutter a quiet thanks to the heavens that he knew the Latino did not believe in, before shifting her onto his back. The gunslinger picked up _the twins_ and followed his teammates back to the church.

" _My systems were temporarily shut down due to maintenance. Agents, please report your status._ " Athena sounded above them. Argenis scowled, shifting his mate on his back and continuing his trudge over to the doors leading out of the practice range.

McCree responded instead. "What the hell happened, Athena? 'bots exploded and knocked Grace unconscious!"

"What caused the explosion?" Hanzo questioned as he dropped to the street beside Jesse from his place on the rooftops. The American had to, yet again, suppress a growl of frustration at his inability to scent out what Hanzo's sub-gender was. He briefly wondered why he was so obbsessed with finding out, but he decided it was simply because he would like to know whether to avoid Hanzo if he went into a rut, or heat. For heaven's sake! He couldn't even scent any worry or confusion on the man! It was all petrichor and jasmine; Hanzo's natural scent.

The scenery shuddered around them and faded from existence, leaving a white washed room and a door leading out of the practice range.

Athena was quiet for a moment. " _I am unsure, I will run diagnostics to discover the reason behind the event._ "

\----------

Hanzo was startled to find Grace at practice range 4 at 01:00. The young woman shooting a perfect rapid fire of three arrows into the center chassis of a practice 'bot when he entered.

Grace had woken up a few minutes after arriving at the med bay, insisting that she was perfectly fine and just needed a hot shower, and a good night's rest. Grace's insomnia seemed to only worsen, however, and more often than not Hanzo caught her sneaking through the base in the cover of night to go to a practice range, he hadn't seen her on this night though, so he assumed sleep had finally claimed her.

Grace's lips were moving intermittently, and only after she put her bow down to bend over and gather her hair up into a ponytail did he realize it was because she had a pair of black headphones splashed with neon green in her ears.

Hanzo smirked, deciding to see how good of an opponent the young lady could be from an observes perspective, and slunk back into the control room to watch her progress from a vantage point.

She shook her head, straightening and slinging the bow over shoulder. Grace pulled out her phone and fussed over it for a moment before drawing her pistols. 

" _Athena._ " Hanzo heard a deep growl in her throat as her words were transmitted into the control room with a crackle of computer overlay. She smirked and faced forward, her hands hanging by her sides. " _Begin personal program two-sixty-eight._ "

" _Acknowledged, initiating simulation._ "

The room shuddered, the range booths folding into the sides of the arena along with the 'bots. Now she had Hanzo's attention, she had made a personal program for her own training? He only knew that himself and Genji did such things, perhaps their resident soulmates felt it necessary to do the same?

His eyes widened as the scene lay out before him, a battle field, an honest to god battle field sprawled in every direction. Hanzo glanced at the screen providing information on the on-goings inside of the arena, he curled his lip at what he saw.

_Location: Indonesia._

_Date and time: 14:26, 4-15-2056._

_Battle: Unknown._

_War: Omnic Crisis._

He snapped his attention back down to the woman currently walking forward, bullets were whizzing around, snapping through her carefully groomed hair, slicing a cut across her cheek, and tearing at her sides. Screams of terror and pure rage filled the arena, explosions shaking the floor made even Hanzo unsteady on his feet. He was itching to reach for his bow, every instinct in his body screamed at him to defend himself and the woman who seemed like she could care less about the blood dripping down and soaking her already red leggings and ankle high boots.

Wait blood?

Sure enough, her cheek was streaked with the red substance. He furrowed his brows, staring intently at the scowl on her face. Why? She wasn't even attempting to dodge the bullets hurtling towards her from the Bastion units across the battle field, not to mention all the simulations he, and surely any of the others, had ever run were fueled by plastic pellets, only hard enough to leave bruises to encourage the agents to fix their mistakes.

He was snapped out of his confusion when she let out a primal scream, a furious scowl marred her expression as she charged, zipping in and out, weaving between the bullets as she ran. Grace leaped over a ditch, to which Hanzo was shocked to see strike-commander Morrison and Reyes poke their heads out of as she passed, they looked... Young, far too young to be anywhere near the age they should be at present day, Morrison had a full head of blonde hair and Reyes, well, he was alive. Then it hit him where she was.

The final battle of the Omnic Crisis.

Grace kept running, despite the desperate calls urging her to return to safety. She kept running, whipping _the twins_ up she began shooting, she jumped and rolled forward, sliding under a Bastion unit she fired hell into the Omnic's hull, wriggling out just before it shut down. Grace flipped over a second unit, which was folded into it's turret position, and crouched against the back of it, she grit her teeth, a furious expression on her face as she pulled a small cylinder from the belt lining her waist. Grace stuffed it into the hull of the Bastion and leaped away, rolling across the ground she kept running, turning to watch the unit explode, taking several others with it. She ducked to avoid a piece of shrapnel hurtling towards her head and stood with a smirk, Morrison and Reyes watched in disbelief.

" _Come on, boys! Time ta' send these clankers to their fuckin' maker!_ " She cheered and turned, continuing her spree of destruction.

Hanzo watched her in silence as she weaved in and out of the units, she took a substantial amount of the damage but she didn't seem bothered by it. Every few minutes she'd pause, bobbing her head back and forth to whatever music was playing through her ear buds. Occasionally through the furious, concentrated looks he saw a malicious smirk, or hear an elated laugh, she was clearly enjoying the battle.

Suddenly, Grace stopped, she ducked behind the broken corpse of an Orisa unit and looked at her shoulder, breathing hard she grinned as it gleamed brightly with a dark, ominous purple glow.

This was interesting, Hanzo had yet to see her ability. Grace had explained it once, she told him of a story during one of her travels in which she became the vessel of a powerful being, she had described to him with colorful adjectives to depict the forestry and flora that covered a ruins she happened upon, a cave tucked into the side of a mountain with a stone feline figure snarling down at those who entered. 

Grace told him her curiosity got the better of her and she went inside, but they had been summoned for mission briefing before she had been able to tell him anymore of what happened.

Grace laughed, eyes gleaming as she stood, tossing her pistols away the tattoo gleamed brighter until the light engulfed her entirely. When the purple smog cleared Hanzo felt his breath catch in his throat.

So, the feline guardian had chosen her.

A massive snow leopard stood in her place, easily the size of an Orisa unit, Hanzo marveled at the massive wings rolling with the purplish smog, it's spots glowed the same color as well as it's eyes.

The beast roared it's fury and charged, it's claws left a trail of purple edged ash in it's wake. The leopard charged, slashing and crushing the opposing Omnics with little care of the bullets that pierced its pelt, only to zip through to the other side and out of its body.

It was over in a matter of moments, the oppressive Omnics reduced to shrapnel and ash as the beast that had taken over Grace's body surveyed the battle field. It turned it's head to regard the approaching strike-commanders with soft eyes, it rumbled and looked away, and with a flick of its tail, Grace's human body returned. Crumpling on the ground and gasping for breath. She looked up for a moment, eyes turning sad as she watched Reyes and Morrison hurry to her position.

" _Athena, end program._ "

The room shuttered and she lay there, a ball on the ground, blood pooling beneath her shaking frame. Hanzo had to resist the urge to rush over to help her, Grace did not look alarmed at her condition. She didn't look bothered in the least at the amount of blood she was loosing.

Hanzo realized with a jolt that he had originally come to the range to practice his own skills, attempting to allow the familiar pull of his muscles soothe and clear his aching mind, but not in nearly so violent a fashion as this. He decided to wait for her to make some kind of move before approaching, he wanted to see what Grace had been up to all these nights spent alone.

After what seemed like hours, but in reality had only been a few minutes, Grace stood. She walked over to where she had cast _the twins_ aside earlier in the simulation, as she stooped down to pick them up, Hanzo watched her pull a biotic emitter from the belt around her waist that held her extra ammo packs as well as bombs.

" _Athena, go ahead and switch the arena back to the shooting range._ " She murmured, moving over to sit by the door. The walls opened up for the booths to slide back into position as the interior color returned to the dark blue and grey steal. 

With a heavy sigh, Grace sat on the floor, clicking the biotic field on and setting it down in front of her. She leaned back against the wall, pulling her headphones out and leaning her head back. " _How'd I do?_ "

" _Results show you would have died 3 times before transformation occurred, you are lucky to have such a guardian watching over you, Grace._ " Athena responded. He raised a brow, Athena rarely referred to the agents by their first names.

Grace didn't seem to noticed as she snorted in response, shaking her head and glancing down at herself to asses her injuries. " _I appreciate the sentiment, but we both know it ain't just Skadi._ "

" _It is interesting that your guardian spirit is a Norse spirit where your mate's is Greek. I wonder if the spirits knew your future when they blessed you._ " Athena responded with some curiosity.

Grace smiled ruefully. " _All to do with origins, my dear. Helios decided Argenis was worthy of the phoenix, and Skadi decided I was worthy of the snow leopard. Don't rightly know what they were thinkin' and it ain't my business to be knowin' or questionin'._ " She responded, sighing in relief as her wounds nit themselves together. " _I am rather glad I was included in the whole 'rebirth' deal from Helios. Fuckin' grim reaper woulda' reaped my soul a long time ago if I weren't._ "

Hanzo chose this moment to step down from the control room and make his presence known. Grace rolled her head to the side and looked Hanzo over, a small bark of laughter escaped her throat, causing a fit of coughs. "Y'been watchin' the whole time, yakuza boy?" She questioned after she regained her breath.

Hanzo's lip curled at the nick name she had deemed her favorite. "I am no longer yakuza, onna." He reminded her with no small amount of spite. He schooled his expression after a moment, deciding the topic was not one he wished to continue discussing. "What were you doing? And how do you explain your miraculous healing abilities? And why is your mate not with you?"

Grace scoffed at his questions, clearly noting the bitterness with which he spoke of her mate. 

Hanzo did not have a soulmark, and while it was not unheard of for the mystical tattoos to appear later on in life, it was very rare and Hanzo did not consider himself worthy of a soulmate and he supposed whatever power that connected soulmates together agreed with him.

"Okay, first, Argenis and I are not sewn together at the hip. I am my own person and there may come a time in which he ain't around to have my back and I gotta defend myself. We train together, sure, but I rarely sleep, so I come here at night to brush up on my solo trainin'." Grace explained, gesturing for him to sit with her, Hanzo did so, sitting across from her on the other side of the biotic emitter. He agreed though, her decision to use her sleepless nights as a means of improvement on her own was a very wise move indeed.

Grace rapped her knuckles lightly against the wall next to her and one of the panels popped open, she reached in a grabbed a frosty bottle of water. Grace turned and tossed it to him and grabbed another for herself, she took a few gulps of the cool liquid before tapping the panel and it slid shut with a _hiss_ and _click_.

"As for the healin' shit, that's thanks to Argenis. Y'see Hanz, you Japs ain't the only ones with guardian spirits. Yer just more devoted to 'em, cause o' that, the rest of us ain't often chosen to be vessels." She explained in that thick southern drawl, clearly uninterested in his own reasons for being awake at such an hour. 

She took another drink and gestured at her tattoo. "My goddess is Skadi, Norse goddess of winter and the hunt. I weren't born out there but my lineage can go all the way back to them Vikin's. Skadi is, obviously, impervious to extremely frigid temperatures, it also makes me the best damn hunter y'all got." She smirked and stuck her chin in the air pridefully.

Hanzo snorted and rolled his eyes. "That does not explain your wounds." He nodded toward the quickly closing bullet wounds, his nose wrinkled as he watched the flesh slowly push the bullets out to land on the floor with a repeating _clink_ sound.

Grace nodded, waving a hand in dismissal. "Argenis' got roots in the Greek culture. His guardian is Helios. While the god is a man in all senses, Helios is also closely associated with The Phoenix in Greek history, Or...." Her brows furrowed in thought for a moment. "The other way around, I can't fuckin' remember." Grace waved a hand in dismissal. "Anyway, as you probably know, Phoenix's are famous for two things, bein' red, or the tips of their feathers bein' eternally on fire, and their immortality."

Grace held a hand up at his confused expression. "Now, that don't mean Argenis and I are immortal, it just means we heal a lot easier than most. Argenis, when his spirit is ready, can turn him into Phoenix and let me tell you, you don't wanna be on the receivin' end of that."

She shook her head in thought, and took another drink from her water bottle. "Helios will only let him use rebirth if he deems it necessary, if not, Argenis is stuck bein' dead. However, us bein' soulmates and all, our spirits granted one shared ability for each of us. I chose bein' impervious to the temperatures, and Argenis chose his healin' ability."

Hanzo mulled over the information for a moment, while he did not find the notion completely outlandish, it was hard to believe such powerful spirits were willing to share their powers with beings whom their legends did not encompass. 

He brought these doubts into question as he fiddled with the water bottle in his hands. "Skadi and Helios did not find it.... Encroaching to extend their powers to another spirits vessel?" He asked with a raised brow.

Grace shrugged in nonchalance. "I dunno. Like I said: gotta have somethin' to do with Argenis and I bein' soulmates." She smirked, waggling her eyebrows. "Must be some god ordained power couple, eh?"

Hanzo breathed out a chuckle at that. It was interesting to see spirits and gods of different cultures intermingling and working together, however strange it may sound. He wondered briefly why Genji's dragon and his own hadn't hadn't interacted, they were siblings after all. He dismissed the question quickly however, the dragons were not gods like Skadi and Helios, they were powerful, revered creatures in their own rights, but not gods.

Hanzo suddenly remembered why he had approached Grace to begin with, and the fact that she and her soulmate were vessels for spirits belonging to gods only solidified in his mind that she could help him.

He sucked in a shaky breath and looked up to the woman, currently examining her exposed stomach and sports bra for any remaining wounds. "I would like to ask your advice on something, Grace. If it is not too much trouble."

Grace's head shot up in surprise and she seemed to consider him for a moment before nodded and relaxing again. "Sure, anything I can help with I'm always glad to." She kicked the long since used biotic emitter to the side and brought her knees to her chest, resting her arms on the tops of them.

Here goes. "I was wondering if you might, perhaps, have any insight as to why I do not..." He chewed on his lip in nervousness for a moment, he hardly considered himself worthy for such a thing but the question had been gnawing away at his mind for some time. He steeled himself and took a deep breath. "As to why I do not have a soulmark, or a soulmate for that matter."

Grace cocked her head to the side. "Well, what do ya know about that..." She mumbled.

"What?"

"Nothin'." She dismissed quickly. "Look, I can't tell ya why ya ain't got one. Maybe the gods just couldn't find a good match for you, maybe they did and they're quietly waiting for you to accept yourself before acceptin' yer mate. I don't know, I think you'll find one though, just give it some time. Actually, ya ain't the first to come to me about this kinda shit." She spoke quickly, giving him little time to process her words.

Hanzo considered her confession. "What do you mean?"

Grace scratched her chin idly. "Jess came to me about it, wonderin' why he ain't met his mate yet. I told him the same shit I'm about to tell you." Her expression sobered so quickly it almost startled Hanzo, the woman was usually so upbeat around her teammates. 

"Ya ain't never gonna find yer mate till ya accept yerself. Hanz, my man, you gotta do it, ya gotta face yer issues and yer past and ya gotta come to terms with it. It's a hard fight, believe me." Her eyes swam with an emotion Hanzo couldn't quite put his finger on. "I know. But it's well worth the battle, love, booze, drugs, all that shit should just be a bonus in makin' ya happy. Ya gotta find yer own happiness before ya bring another person into it, 'else yer likely to wind up in a whole world of heartbreak." She nodded to herself, apparently pleased with what she had said.

Hanzo grit his teeth, that is not what he wanted to hear. Why was he coming to her about this subject anyway? He supposed it was because she had her own soulmate, but normally Hanzo would reserve such topics to be spoken with his brother only. Despite Grace's status as an Omega, which put him at ease to be discussing his peculiar _predicament_ by being around a member of his own sub-gender; no one knew except for Genji -- and now Grace -- knew that Hanzo did not have a soulmark.

Grace roused him out of his thoughts with a hum of laughter. "Hell, Argenis and I didn't even acknowledge our soulmarks for the longest time. Sure, they hummed to let us know we'd found each other, but no bond formed."

Hanzo furrowed his brows. "What do you mean?"

"The whole thing where Argenis and I can just move seamlessly as a team in battle without havin' to communicate? Yeah, that didn't happen for a long ass time. We went through hell and back together and only after we'd both accepted ourselves and each other as who we are did the bond start formin'. Hell, I wore a thick bracelet and hoodies for months to keep my ex from knowin' about the mark. Argenis and I weren't even technically legal 'till about a year after we started datin'."

Hanzo's eyebrows shot into his hairline. "I thought soulmates were instantaneous."

Grace threw her head back in laughter. "Naw, hell naw. Marriage is still marriage, mate. Illegal as hell to cheat on anyone, my ex-husband had no fuckin' idea that Argenis and I were mates. Y'see, when Argenis and I met, he was my ex-husbands best friend, we didn't even talk about it when our marks started hummin'." She shook her head, realizing what she was saying made little sense. "Y'wanna hear the full story?"

Hanzo considered the notion for a moment, he only knew bits and pieces of Argenis and Grace's past, and he had nothing better to do at the moment. He stole a glance at the clock on the wall, after seeing it read _02:45_ he decided it was worth it to listen to Grace's story. It was helping him keep his mind off of other infuriating matters anyway.

After nodded his assent, Grace took a deep breath. "Alright well, after we met I realized how much time I'd be spending with Argenis. We were all young, dumb, and they were in the army. We thought we could do any fuckin' thing we wanted." 

She shook her head. "Well, summer was great, long nights spent drinkin' and hangin' out. The first time I realized I might be gettin' attached to Argenis there was eleven of us explorin' an abandoned mental hospital. Cops showed up and boxed us in, we ended up gettin' away but there was a point I thought we weren't. It was dark and I grabbed the hand closest to me, which just so happened to be Argenis'. He didn't pull away and I didn't let go until we were sprintin' across a field to our hover cars." She laughed lightly at the memory.

"After that, we'd stay up late at the parties we had at mine and my exes house, drunk as shit and doodlin' nonsense on my sketch pad on the floor. That kept goin' fer 'bout five months."

She sobered quickly. "And then the winter months came." 

Hanzo tensed, sensing the mood shift.

"Weren't nothin' to do but sit around and drink, and I quickly got bored of that. So we switched to drugs." She sighed, leaning her head back. "Hanz, my man, you would not believe how much shit I was on." 

Hanzo tried not to recoil at the familiarity in which she addressed him. He should be used to it by now, the young woman had become something akin to a sister to him over the months. Grace was bubbly and loud around the other members, but she easily adapted to suit the desires of the quieter of her companions, preferring to make sure they were comfortable around her.

She tilted her head forward to look at him gravely. "I have a thing for painkillers, which is why I won't take any unless I'm damn near force fed 'em. Shit, Hanzo. I was on morphine, xanax, percocets, tramadol, valium, every fuckin' thing you can think of except the super hard shit. I stayed away from street drugs except for triple c's."

Hanzo shivered, he wasn't familiar with the last drug she had listed but it made his skin crawl all the same. He had never even considered substance abuse in all his years, it always lead to a very very dark path.

She sighed and continued. "Well, one night, I came home and my ex started tryna' kill me. Started chokin' the livin' daylights outta me." She made a choking gesture with her hands in front of her. "One of the other soldiers was the one to get 'em off me. But after that, I couldn't stand it no more, I got off everythin' and it was Argenis that gave me the motivation and willpower to do so. Hell, he even helped me find the nerve to leave my ex. But after everythin' happened and the dust settled, Argenis was there. I ended up havin' a one night stand with him one night 'cause I was single, and why the fuck not right? He was supposed to be my soulmate after all."

Grace smiled, a faraway look in her eyes. "After all was said and done, Argenis was there. We'd faced hell together and come out on top. After his contract was up we decided to travel for a while, it was me and him against the world and damn if we weren't the fuckin' dream team. We fell in love and our strength only grew, especially after we got these fuckers." She gestured to the tattoo on her shoulder.

"Ended up becomin' bounty hunters, he gave me _the twins_ for my birthday one year, I already had the bow, we were big back then. We never got caught, ended up amassin' a huge amount of wealth along with a huge fuckin' bounty." She chuckled, "but luckily, that bounty's all the way out in Poland. After some proddin' by yer friend Lena we ended up here."

Hanzo was quiet during her story, she had obviously shortened it for his sake, but it was clear the impact it had on her life. It resounded painfully in his chest, the thought of Grace going through so much so young, but then again, he supposed it was comparable to his own childhood, though he was not sure what Grace's life had been like before Argenis' involvement.

Grace stood suddenly, stretching and mewling like a feline. "Welp, I'm damn tired. Think I'll be headin' off to bed now, I'll see ya Hanz, and don't forget what I said earlier 'bout that soulmate business." And with that, she left.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for bearing through all of that garbage! This is my first fic so I apologize if it's not very good, I try, I really do.  
> So, as I said a couple times before, this chap was mostly about Grace and Argenis (pronounced "Are-hen-ease") and their backstory cuz they play a huge part in getting out favorite cowboy and stoic lord together!  
> -rubs hands together evilly- have I got some fuckin' plans for this!  
> Anyways! Thank you guys so much for reading! I will be back with another chapter... At some point in the future! I give no guarantees on update times cuz my life is a mess ;~;


	2. Game, Set, Match!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello Hello! I'm back!  
> Sorry for the period of time between this chapter and the last I'm very sorry ;~;  
> Also, someone pointed out to me in the last chapter that Grace said the word "Japs" which is a racial slur, and while I did not know it was at the time I wanted to go ahead and make a quick note for any and all future issues.  
> Any racial slurs, profanity, alcohol/drug abuse, self harm, suicide, or any other matters in the same category as these, that I'm just gonna go ahead and label "Taboo subjects", that might appear in this fic are in NO WAY intended to offend ANYONE AT ALL, I am not trying to be rude in any way and apologize if it offends you.
> 
> I am just trying to capture a character's personality, and with the things that most of these guys have seen, they really don't care. To them, a word is a word and it is the other persons decision to be offended by it. 
> 
> That being said, I am not attempting to make anyone made, the slur was not only accidental, but it is part of Grace's personality, and she's fictional so... Idk....
> 
> Anyways! The gist of what I'm trying to say is that I'm sorry if I've offended anyone, it was never my intention.
> 
> Okay, here's more trash.
> 
> Edit: This chapter has been edited to include the A/B/O verse. Thank

"Fourty-three!" Grace exclaimed, pumping a fist into the air in success.

Argenis scoffed besides her, "twenty-two.." He trailed off, crossing his arms over his chest and looking away. "Only reason I didn't get more is 'cause I had to haul the target's ass all over the damn place." He muttered with a grumble while Grace laughed and kissed his cheek to soothe the sting of losing.

Hanzo snorted, setting Stormbow down beside his seat and turning to regard Grace with no small amount of smugness. "Eighty-one." 

Grace growled, making a choking gesture at him. "No fair! You and your snipin' bullshit!"

After three weeks of simulations they had gone in, extracted the target, and completed their mission on King's Row. Hanzo remembered watching from his vantage point on the catwalks as the newly reformed Overwatch team made short work of the resisting Talon forces. While he picked off the stragglers and ended up saving Jesse McCree's life a few times, which he was determined to hold over the cowboys head for a while yet.

Grace had held true to the impressive display she had shown in her training simulations, easily weaving in and out of danger and working in tandem with her mate. Hanzo had just fired an arrow into the neck of an approaching Talon agent when he saw Grace run over to her mate, place her hands on his shoulders and flip over him. She had landed neatly in a crouch in front of him and tossed a hand grenade at the opposing forces while Argenis fired off a round of Helix rockets. And while they nearly obliterated the building -- which Hanzo had hastily chastised them for over the comm -- they managed to wipe out nearly half of the Talon agents keeping them from their target. They made quick work of the rest and had gotten to the agent.

The target was a young man in a business suit, bloody and broken, they found him in one of Talon's interrogation cells, tied to a chair and bent over, coughing up copious amounts of blood. The others could barely get a read on his sub-gender, and determined he was an Alpha, which could stand to reason why he had survived such brutality; but why Talon needed to interrogate him was beyond Hanzo, perhaps Winston and Athena would have answers to that question.

 During the brutal fight for their lives to escape the compound and get to the extraction point, Hanzo had witnessed Jesse gun down six men with perfect shots to the head without so much as blinking an eye. It was impressive, and entirely above the capabilities of the finest shots the world could possibly offer, but Hanzo decided it most likely had something to do with what Jesse's mentor, Ana Amari, had taught him while she was alive. But he didn't press the question, Captain Amari tended to be a sensitive subject for McCree, as whenever he was questioned about his mentor his expression would turn dark and a wave of indeterminable emotions would flood the brown iris', brushing off any questions with short replies.

Now, the cowboy plopped himself in the seat next to Hanzo's, groaning and taking his hat off to run his flesh hand through his unruly hair. The Alpha grumbled about being too old to participate in such strenuous activities with mildly wounded pride.

Hanzo watched the action with mild disgust, McCree's hair was always an ungodly mess, and every time he brushed a hand through the tangled locks it only seemed to get worse. "Man, I got about forty-two 'ffn I'm countin' right. When did'ya turn into such a good shot, girly?" He asked grinning at Grace as she moved to check the auto-pilot.

She shot him a sly look. "Soulmate and guardian shit I'm sure. Hell, I didn't start shootin' till about a year after I met Argenis, he started teachin' me and all, he's the super soldier here after all... Well, sorta." She laughed at her own blunder.

Argenis smiled, moving to sit down in the co-pilots chair and dragging Grace into his lap. He nuzzled her neck and the Omega mewled happily. "Awe c'mon, babe. We both know you were a damn good shot before we met."

Hanzo turned to the doorway as Angela walked into the cockpit, taking a seat beside Jesse she wiped the sweat off of her brow and heaved a deep sigh. "He is stable for now, but I will need to take him straight to the med-bay when we land."

Hanzo could not smell the sub-genders nearly as well as the others; but he was just able to catch a whiff of feminine Alpha. He wasn't surprised that Angela was an Alpha, oh no, he was surprised that he could identify her. It must be time to take another suppressant; that or his heat would soon be upon him. Something he could not afford to endure at the moment.

Grace nodded, glancing at the monitor by the controls. "We should be in Gibraltar in about three hours."

"What's the fella's name anyhow?" Jesse asked, leaning his elbows on his knees.

Angela shook her head. "We do not know as of yet, and he is too badly injured to tell us right now." She muttered something, and then excused herself to monitor their rescuee.

Hanzo frowned. Rescuing a target with valuable information regarding Talon operations and not even knowing so much as his name? That was indeed rare, and a little unsettling. Why didn't they know his name? Surely the man wasn't a ghost, he didn't even look to be much older than Grace or Argenis, or even Hana. He wondered idly what sort of trouble the man could've possibly gotten involved in to warrant the need to keep his identity secret, but he supposed being involved with Talon was enough of a reason.

He shrugged himself out of his thoughts, watching as Jesse grunted and leaned back, propping his feet up on the console beside him and drawing his hat over his face. He didn't say anything else, and Hanzo quashed the empty feeling in his chest.

That was new.

He sat back, withdrawing into himself to mull over the feeling. Why did he feel empty at the loss of the cowboys honeyed Southern drawl? Hanzo had no qualms with admitting to himself that the Alpha had quickly become one Hanzo relied on in battle, the two worked easily together, a deadly machine supported by a duo of bulky cogs; ever-present, worn grooves linking together to form something bigger than themselves without truly noticing. McCree would consistently alert Hanzo of a trap he'd set up, drawing four or more enemies into a narrow alley, only to step away at the last second as Hanzo's scatter shot buried itself into their soft, exposed flesh.

When it came to time spent off of the battle field; Hanzo enjoyed drinking with Jesse, while he was often annoyed by Jesse's persistent chatter, Hanzo found that the more alcohol in the cowboy's system, the more Jesse's outrageous stories made sense. Focusing on a specific time period for the night, and regaling Hanzo with many near-death escapes and awkward situations the cowboy found himself in. He seemed content with Hanzo's silence, only very rarely offering a story of his own, at which point Jesse would shut his mouth immediately and listen, completely enthralled with Hanzo's past.

Hanzo had noticed that the cowboy would more often than not seek out Hanzo's company, either to practice or drink; Hanzo could barely tolerate his constant blathering without such distractions. Though, he was not so foolish as to not realize that slowly, McCree's chatter had become more tolerable, and while he had dismissed this observation as irrelevant before, perhaps it was not so irrelevant now. Had he become so accustomed to the Southern mans baritone that he had begun to  _long_  for it?

Hanzo shook his head; of course not! He simply had gotten used to the constant noise and felt as though it were too quiet without it.

Jesse never asked about Hanzo's own sub-gender. A fact he was eternally grateful for, the less people paid attention to his lack of scent or sub-gender oriented behavior the better. Kyo and Soba also often purred when Hanzo thought of how the cowboy prefers to get to know another person as they are, he didn't seem to care about any genders, just who you were as a person. And while Hanzo hardly considered himself a good person, he was compitant enough to allow others their own opinions, there was no benefit to arguing other things that will not change; so he allowed himself the warm feeling that bloomed in his chest when Jesse never brought up his sub-gender.  

Before he could contemplate it anymore Grace hopped off of her mates lap and began puttering around the cockpit, apparently looking for something. He nearly jumped when she kicked the wall, growling in irritation.

"Damnit! I'm stir crazy!" Grace put her hands on her hips, leaning forward and glaring at the roof of the aircraft. "Skadi, yer a bitch."

"You know she'll get mad if you say shit like that without apologizing." Hanzo looked at Argenis, who was chuckling. "For a god that thrives in the cold, and gave you a spirit animal that's supposed to represent wisdom to some extent, she really doesn't know when the hunt's over." 

Ah, yes. That must be the cause of Grace's restlessness, she was currently bouncing from one foot to the other. He chuckled, "perhaps you should have been more cautious about when allowing a spirit to take up residence in your body."

Grace stuck her tongue out at him in a manner that reminded him of a cub play fighting with their older sibling. "It's great in a fire fight, gives me boundless energy. But damn if this cat don't wanna stop movin'." 

Hanzo nodded, thinking not-so-fondly of the days in which he had to quell the blood-thirst of his own spirits. "Perhaps that is why they chose you, despite your laziness, you seem to have a rather resilient mind when it comes to temptation."

Grace sputtered at the compliment, and he felt Argenis glare on him briefly. The Alpha man had probably misunderstood what Hanzo meant by 'temptation'. "And while you are more than capable of handling the mental challenges that comes with being inhabited by a feline spirit, your mate has more than enough physical strength to contain the raw power of a Phoenix. Your abilities compliment one another very well." Hanzo nodded to himself, satisfied by the indignant noise from the back of Argenis' throat.

The woman standing in front of the three men sniffed, crossing her arms and looking pointedly away. "I always did say I'm a cat in a human body, we're supposed to be lazy fucks that don't care about anythin' that don't concern relaxin'." She muttered, referencing his earlier jibe about her sleeping habits.

Argenis shook his head, looking at her with a smirk and leaning forward to rest his elbows on his knees. "I  _could_  say something about how your flexibility is compared to a cat's and that I've tested it,  _but_  I'll ask you where you put your coffee instead."

Grace shot him a glare before mumbling something about where Argenis would find her flexible foot should he follow that train of thought, and exiting the cock pit to find the much needed coffee.

Coffee was Grace's weakness, not all coffee though. Hanzo had never seen her down an entire mug of the stuff in one go the way Jesse often did. She would only drink the stuff from bottles, specially made by her to be sweeter than anything Hanzo had ever tasted in his life. There  _had_  to be an unhealthy amount of sugar in those bottles that Angela would surely faint over if she ever saw exactly how much, but it seemed to help her. Relaxing her when she was too energetic and waking her up when she needed an energy boost. While it confused him, -- how could a drink meant to provide energy and alertness, calm one down? -- he did not question it. Better for a small oddity to be a constant, than worry about a teammate possibly being taken over by a spirit that craves a hunt.

Argenis swiveled his chair around, leaning back and propping his feet up beside McCree's in one fluid motion. He tucked his arms behind his head, stretching the athletic top over his broad shoulders, and looked at Hanzo with a raised brow; which he returned with a questioning look of his own.

Argenis glanced at McCree, and after nudging the cowboy's boot to ensure he was indeed asleep, he spoke up. "I heard you were asking Grace about the soulmarks."

Hanzo stiffened. In all honesty, he should have known the woman would speak to her mate about what they had talked about in the range that night; it infuriated him no less, however. "What of it?"

Argenis shrugged, looking nonchalant as ever. "I have an idea that might help, have you ever heard of a place called 'Tekani'?"

Hanzo furrowed his brow in confusion. "No-"

"Tekani? What about Tekani?" Grace interrupted, Hanzo turned as Grace walked in and plopped herself into the seat beside Argenis, throwing her feet into his lap and taking a sip from the bottle she held in her hand.

Argenis grunted, shifting to rest his hands on her boot clad ankles. "I was just telling Hanzo about the place, in relation to the soulmarks."

Grace's eyes went wide and she hummed, pulling the bottle from her lips with a smack and screwing on the cap. "That's a great idea! We should take Jesse too!"

Hanzo had to repress a growl. "What are you talking about?"

She waved a had in dismissal at his peeved expression, "Tekani, it's sorta like a temple, but not really." At his  _still_  confused silence she continued. "It's connected to our gods, kinda. Tekani, it's a kinda alcove in the Swiss Alps, our gods -- well, more mine than his -- used to accept offerin's and such there. As time wore on and less and less people came to pray and bring offerings, the gods dispersed to find people they deemed worthy to share their strength with." 

She gestured between Argenis and herself. "They're the ones that gave us our soulmarks, said we were destined to become a powerful duo of the gods." Grace grinned. "So we really are a god ordained dream team." She waved a hand after a moment of silence, indicating no one would laugh at her attempt at a joke. "Argenis and I take a trip up there for a month, once a year. It ain't necessarily needed that we go, but it shows favor and thanks for our blessings."

Hanzo tilted his head to the side slightly and folded his arms across his chest. "So how would that benefit me in my current.. Situation?"

Argenis was the one who spoke next. "I can't really say for certain, but if there isn't any place like that in your homeland, maybe our gods will be able to tell you why you don't have a soulmark. Hell, maybe your dragons will be able to tell you something."

Hanzo scowled. "They speak to me when they feel like it as it is."

Grace nodded enthusiastically, holding up a finger to indicate he wait until she finished taking a drink. Once she had, she smacked her lips and her voice rose with excitement. "Yeah, but that's limited. There are places on this Earth that fuckin' vibrate with celestial power. I think yer dragons might have more to say if you come with us, plus, it'll give ya a new change of scenery."

Hanzo contemplated this for a moment. "Wouldn't we be needed here, Overwatch will need their strongest members very soon, I think."

"What'sat about strong members?" Hanzo rolled his eyes as Jesse stirred beside him.

This distracted Grace from answering his question. "Ah, good yer up. We're gonna be takin' a trip up to a place in the Swiss Alps called Tekani in about a month, it's where Argenis and I go for a month out of the year to talk to the gods that gave us our spirits and just relax and think for a while. Was just tellin'  _yakuza_  boy here that he should come with us so he can ask his dragons about some shit. Thought maybe you'd wanna come to see what's up with yer soulmark?" Hanzo growled at her when she called him by her favored nick name, but was silently thanking her good sense to not mention the true matter with which he would theoretically discuss with his spirits.

Jesse scratched his beard groggily. "I dunno if you noticed, darlin'; but I don't got none of them spirits like y'all do. Hell, I think any god out there would probably strike me down soon as they saw me if I stepped on holy ground."

Grace snorted, and Argenis squeezed her ankle, finally speaking up. "It's not like that, any who wanna come stay are welcome. Besides, you might not have a spirit, but our gods will speak to you if they know you came seeking their wisdom."

Hanzo stifled a groan as McCree begrudgingly agreed, though not without making sure they knew he would haunt them if a god struck him down.

Grace's hopeful eyes turned to Hanzo. "Well? Jesse's goin' will you come too?  _Please_  Hanzo?" She clasped her hands together, elongating the word 'please' and giving him her best impression of sad, pleading puppy eyes. 

Hanzo internally sighed, damning himself for filing her in his mind as a little sister. "My question still remains, will Overwatch be alright without us present?" 

She perked up, he hadn't said no. "I'll smooth things over with Winston! It shouldn't be that hard to function without us, they'll have Hana and Mei and Reinhardt and the rest! So please..?" She trailed off, back to that pleading expression

Hanzo sighed outwardly this time. "I suppose, but I do not see how this will benefit me other than time for introspection."

Hanzo would never admit out loud how Grace's cheers warmed his heart in a platonic, loving way.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> THAT'S ALL FOLKS
> 
> For now at least, I'm so sorry this was so short. I'm really struggling with writer's block and yeah. Like I know where I want this to end up, and I know what's gonna happen in future chapters, it's just getting from Point A to Point G while not skipping Points B,C,D,E, and F.
> 
> OOOOOOOOOOH THEY GOIN' ON A VACAY


	3. Nightmares and Purple Screens

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Edit: This chapter has been updated to include th ABO verse, but, because this chapter is told from Hanzo's perspective it doesn't really include a whole lot in reference to it, considering our favorite brooding archer is on suppressants. And to me it would only make sense for suppressants to dull the senses as well. I mean, they're controlling heat/rut cycles, wouldn't they dull the senses so the cycles wouldn't get triggered by another Alpha/Omega? Idk, that's just what I'm goin with.
> 
> Anyway, enjoy!

_Red, so much red. It fills his vision and churns his stomach in a heart-wrenching way. Thick, sticky liquid pooled beneath him. The scent was overpowering to his newly sensitive nose, it seared itself into his subconscious and brought on an intense bout of nausea. Far too warm, far too much..._

_Anguish washed over him. A tidal wave of_ _fear and anxiety, rolling into a nicely packaged tsunami of panic punctuated by rolling clouds of thunderous grief._

_"You must do something!" He cried, looking up at the pair. He barely registered the salty tears rolling down his cheeks._

_She sighed, a sad, yet somber expression adorning her face. "It ain't up to us, Hanzo."_

_His breath caught in his throat, looking down at the body in his lap. There was so much red, the pool beneath him was growing too fast._

_He looked above him, imploring the heavens shrouded in thick grey clouds. The Kami would not offer even the tiniest ray of sunlight to soothe his grief striken mind._

_He looked back at the pair, clutching the body closer to his chest. "Please! I am begging you!" He sobbed._

_The man turned his head away, a fist clenched at his side while the woman shook her head. "Hanzo, if we could, we would. But as it stands, there's nothing to be done."_

_Hanzo looked down at the body again, they had stopped breathing and he felt a wave of anguish crash into him like it never had before, not even at the supposed death of his own brother. It twisted in his chest and squeezed the air from his lungs so he was choking on his own cries. "Wake up! Not now! Not yet! It is not your time! Please! Please..." he trailed off, sobs wracking his shuddering form as he clenched the body closer to him._

_"Please... I promised I would protect you... Your life is not theirs to take..."_

_A voice slithered into his ear, smooth, hissing and not the least bit comforting._

_"Marked."_

_\--------------_

Hanzo awoke with a shout, a thin sheet of sweat chilled his spine as he gulped air into his lungs greedily. He snatched up his phone and shut off the alarm that had pulled him from his dream.

The nightmare had returned it seemed.

For the past two weeks it had plagued him a few nights a week. He could never see the faces of the figures in front of him, or the one he had been pleading to save. All Hanzo knew for sure was that did not bode well for the future, he was seldom lucky enough for his dreams just to have the simple nature of irrational fears; something akin to the ones a child would have, such as a monster hiding in his closet, but he was an adult and knew better than to feed such irrational fears.

The dreams coming from the future though, those were interesting, definitely interesting enough to warrant further contemplation. Premonitions were an effect of the dragons, they would find some reason or other to send him warnings in the form of nightmares. On a normal occasion Hanzo would welcome the warning, analyzing every detail as closely as he could. However; Hanzo now belonged to Overwatch, and had no need to consistently look over his shoulder and check the rooftops for assassins.

Hanzo frowned. Though, Kyo and Soba were trying to warn him without directly speaking to him it spoke of the situations inevitability. The dragons were often picky about what they warned him about, and how. when Hanzo had been young and they tried to warn him of- well anything really, he would argue fervently, tell them they were wrong. Only through years of having the mythical companions did he learn to keep his mouth shut, but by then the damage had been done and they would no longer speak to him about the warnings, instead sending him cryptic messages in their infinite childish behavior.

Even dragons could be immature, they were immortal after all.

He shook his head of the thoughts, focusing instead on the confusion surrounding his nightmare. What did the voice mean by 'marked'? The voice undoubtedly belonged to Soba, but what did the dragon mean? Was the person he held marked for death? Marked for ascension to the heavens? They were truly infuriating beasts in all their wisdom.

Hanzo heaved a sigh, turning and throwing his legs off the bed to stand and begin his morning routine. Winston had called an emergency meeting that morning to finally reveal the identity of the target they had rescued from King's Row, he could contemplate the nightmare when he had time to meditate on it.

The target had been on bed rest until the day before. Having suffered severe internal bleeding, a number of broken bones, and several other severe injuries that Hanzo had not bothered to listen to when Angela had rattled them off from a list at the mission debriefing. It had taken a full two weeks for the target to recover enough to finally leave the med-bay and the entirety of Overwatch was anxious to hear what the man had to say.

Hanzo showered and dressed himself in his usual  _kyudo-gi_  quickly, he ate a small breakfast of rice and natto from the kitchenette in his room before leaving his room to attend the meeting. It was time for answers.

Hanzo set a brisk pace for himself, eager to hear what the man had to say. He was so enraptured by the possibilities of what would occur during the meeting that he almost missed the cheery greeting called from behind him.

"Howdy, Hanzo! Mind if I walk with ya?" McCree tipped his hat in greeting as he jogged to catch up to the other man.

Hanzo pushed down the elated feeling springing in his heart and nodded a greeting to his friend. "Provided you can keep up."

McCree held a hand to his heart in mock hurt. "Why Hanzo! I never thought I'd live to see the day you'd leave lil' ole me behind!" Despite Hanzo's eye rolling the cowboy touched his forehead with the back of his hand. "Say it ain't so! The travesty! The betrayal! My poor little heart can't take it!"

Hanzo rolled his eyes at the Cowboys ridiculous acting, and turned to continue his walk to the meeting room, not justifying Jesse's attempt at a performance with a response.

Hanzo could not scent his fellow agents, his nose was not nearly as powerful as any of the others. His suppressants dulled his senses to the point where he could hear and smell only the most prominent of things. He did not mind, he had merely adapted to the change, he was still as proficient without the heightened senses as he would be with them; though, he would be lying if he told himself he did not mourn the loss of his sense of smell, and Hanzo was too honest with himself to do such a thing.

He heard the cowboy laugh, then he fall into place beside Hanzo with a  _click_  and jingle of his boots. Hanzo stole a glance at the man beside him, and couldn't help the confused furrow of his brow. _'That ridiculous shawl is hauntingly close to the same shade from the dream...'_

"Somethin' on yer mind there, partner? Yer lookin' awful confused."

Jesse's question drew Hanzo from his thoughts. He quickly slid his mask of indifference over his features and shook his head. "I was contemplating a dream I had last night."

This seemed to pique the cowboy's interest, the corner of his mouth quirked upwards in a smirk. "A dream, eh? Boy howdy! Been a long time since I seen the  _Great Hanzo Shimada_  stumped by somethin' as simple as a- oof!" McCree's sentence was cut off by a sharp elbow to the ribs.

Hanzo decided responding to the cowboy would not be in his best interests, instead silencing him with a glare and picking up his pace. Why did it have to be McCree that so desperately wanted to be friends with him? Why couldn't it have been that adorable little Chinese woman? What was her name? Ah, right. Mei. Yes, she would have been preferable to the man currently jogging to catch up to him while muttering about his ribs hurting.

They entered the meeting room to silence, a quick glance around the room took in the visage of the pensive looking senior agents of Overwatch, as well as the newcomer seated on the right side of Winston at the end of the table. He was staring intently at his hands on the table, lips pressed into a hrd line like he couldn't decide on something. 

Grace waved Hanzo over to a seat between herself and Genji, McCree chose to sit on the other side of the cyborg.

Winston nodded a greeting at the agents."Now that everyone's here. Would you mind introducing yourself to us? We are very glad to have you with us." The gorilla addressed the nervous looking man with a nervous smile.

The man physically jolted, apparently coming out of whatever daze he was in. "Wha-?.." He cut himself off and looked around. Hanzo's head tilted when the man swallowed anxiously, perhaps he was just nervous to be in the same room as so many killers?

He cleared his throat and stood up, almost as an after thought. "Well, um," He began nervously, before shaking himself and setting his lips in a determined line. He straightened and one of his hands went to his wrist, Hanzo felt himself and the rest of the room immediately brace for betrayal, until he heard the words come out of the mans mouth.

"I go by Sombra, and I would like to help Overwatch with securing and curing the man known as Reaper." With a soft  _click_ , the visage before them shuddered and clipped out of sight until a hispanic woman who's apparent signature color was purple stood before them.

Winston recoiled like she had actually set off a bomb.

The rest of the room simply looked awed and confused. 

Now, Hanzo prides himself on being well informed, and well schooled. If you asked him to name the head of a certain organization and list off the ways in which one could kill said person without ever being caught, he would have an entire assassination plan rolled out and ready to go within twelve hours. Now he frowns because he has no idea who the fuck this person is.

Grace scowls beside him. "Been a while, Som. Still slummin' it with that Talon trash I see." Next to her Argenis stiffens.

Sombra returns the look of contempt. "Do I need to bring up your file?"

"Alright enough." Winston seemed to have collected himself at this point. The room was quiet as he cleaned off his glasses and set them back on his nose. He leveled a suspicious look at Sombra, "for those of you who don't know: this is Sombra, a ghost to pretty much the entire world unless you've made it your life's work to find her. Even then; people who have done that know less about her than we do now, much less having seen her." 

He addressed the next statement to the smirking woman in front of him. "Why are you here? From what I've gathered you are not exactly a 'team player.'" He emphasizes the phrase with air quotes.

Sombra frowns, biting her lower lip while she thinks of a way to respond. "Well.." She trails off for a moment before her brows furrow in determination, a new fire burning in her eyes. She reaches out with her fingers splayed and a network of screens appears, stemming from the central octagon in front of her palm.

"Listen very closely, understand? We've got no room for mistakes in this case." Winston narrows his eyes cautiously, but Hanzo leans forward, intrigued. Sombra turns to the screens of data and begins shuffling things around, flicking them this way and that, muttering something under her breath and tossing some behind her shoulder where they disintegrate. After a few moments of organizing the information before her, she seems finally satisfied and the screens form a circle around a central picture: Reaper.

Hanzo heard Jesse growl something under his breath and made a mental note to ask about it at a late date.

Sombra began speaking with little care to those who were listening that might not understand what she was saying. "Alright, look. Reaper here, if you didn't already know, is Gabriel Reyes. Yeah, yeah, I know shocker. But-.. Oh for heavens-   _Cállate idiotas!_  I have a point to make here and there isn't a lot of time to make it!" Sombra yelled when the outraged voices rose around her. Hanzo noticed Grace and Argenis were oddly silent.

Torbjorn was the first to challenge her. "Where do ye get off bringin' our ole commanders back from the grave?" He spits.

Sombra elects to ignore him. "This bit is more for the dear Doctor than the rest of you.  Listen, doc. I know you're aware of how the cell regeneration  _mierda_ works. Gabe's got that working for him and against him right now, if you haven't figured it out yet. The basic run down of what I can understand is that his cells are in a constant state of extremely increased rapid decay and regeneration."

A light seems to come on Angela's mind, she looked down at the table in front of her. "Of course that would explain why he has the ability to disintegrate into smoke!"

Jesse shot her a puzzled look. "You lost me." But Hanzo's mind was already clicking everything into place.

Angela shook her head in response. "It is a bit far fetched, but theoretically if your cells are decaying and regenerating fast enough, the constant movement of the atoms within the cells would cause either spontaneous combustion due to the friction, or your entire being would simply fall apart, but with the regeneration your cells would be able to sort of piece themselves back together." She turned to look at Jack sadly. "However, we have found ways around spontaneous combustion, the subjects of the SEP proved this, which is why I am able to use the Caduceous in battle. I was unfortunately not privy to the details of how this occurred but it is an impressive feat."

Sombra waved a hand dismissively. "Yeah, yeah, you can discuss that in more detail later. For now we've got bigger fish to fry,  _amiga_. I'll send you the files detailing Reapers anatomy and what's wrong with him. Hell, I'll even send them through Athena's 'secure channels' so she can make sure there's nothing harmful in them." She says sarcastically before she enlarged a set of documents and flicked them over to the tablet in front of Angela without looking, then returned to focus on the others in front of her.

"I'm going to tell you guys now, if you're going to do anything about his condition, or shut him down, you'll have to do it within the next month. He's about to go underground for a long time for some kind of experimental treatment, and even I am loathe to go through the trouble it would be to find his bitch ass. I have better things to do." She scowled, flicking the Reapers intimidating picture with a dismissive finger and it crumbles out of existence. "Which brings me to another point, until you guys are able to get a hold of him, I have to hang around you. Which is something I prefer not to do, Overwatch is not very high on my list so there is no reason to hang around your...  _distinto_  group." She makes a darkly amused expression as she scanned the room.

Winston scowled. "Why are you giving us this information?"

Sombra shrugged. "Talon double crossed me, decided I was no longer needed. Which is why you found me in the state I was in. So I'm thinking: 'hey, why not hand over one of their best assets to their biggest enemy'?"

Jesse frowned at that. "So he is workin' for Talon."

Sombra snapped her fingers and the screens swirled closed and siphoned off into the screen on the wall, transferring the information to Athena. Hanzo saw Winston brace, like a virus was about to destroy his beloved A.I. But Athena assured him that the files were clean and did indeed contain everything they would need to make a cohesive file on Reaper.

Sombra huffed an airy laugh at the obvious fear Winston harbored towards her, before answering McCree's question. "Not exactly..." She trailed off for a moment, considering how she would explain things. "You see, Gabe kind of...  _Está jodido_  in the head, I would say he just took too many drugs when he was a kid, but even I can't explain this kind of behavior-" She cut herself off with a chuckle. "Well, I mean I can explain it, but it's sure as hell not natural. I've seen the recordings from when he commanded Blackwatch." She scowled at the thought. "And believe me, it's a far cry to what he is now. Gabe's more on the path of 'I'm going to fuck the whole world in the ass and kill everyone I knew.' Which is a great kick, don't get me wrong, but he keeps getting in my way, super suspicious of me ruining his plans and all of that  _mierda_. "

Jack finally spoke up, with a dark, knowing expression. "Did you?"

Sombra smirked at that, tucking her arm across her stomach and resting her elbow on her wrist to inspect her nails leisurely. "Maybe."

Morrison sighed, looking to the heavens for support like he was dealing with a twelve year old. "So why exactly would you need to stay with Overwatch while we hunt him down? It's not like you can't just disappear when you feel like it."

Sombra frowned, suddenly turning serious. "That's where it gets tricky. To answer that question we're gonna have to back track a bit." She placed her hands on the table and leaned on them in what looked to be an act of desperation, but Hanzo had the feeling she was just putting on a show.

She looked up and had a furrow to her brows, with a click of her nail purple screens appeared in front of each agent, detailing the mental condition of Gabriel Reyes. Hanzo could practically hear Jesse grinding his teeth in effort to stay calm, and he had to repress the urge to assure him everything would be alright.

"Talons had it's hooks in you guys for a long time. I'm surprised they don't still have some of you under their control. Back when Blackwatch and Overwatch were just beginning and you were new agents, you all had to undergo mental conditioning, do you remember?"

Lena answered this time. "Of course. I mean, we're not exactly set up to be doing your normal run of the mill missions. Every agent that was accepted into the organization would report to the med-bay three times a week, for four weeks, to undergo mental conditioning, we would be injected with some sort of juice, not always the same kind, and slip into a dream state to confront horrible situations. If we passed, we'd be fine, if we didn't..." Lena's features contorted in confusion. "Well, I don't rightly think any of us failed." She said looking around and seeing the older members shaking their heads.

Genji cleared his throat. "I do not believe I ever underwent such conditioning."

Sombra nodded, then a devious smirk formed. "You didn't fail because there was never the possibility. It was all a front in order to pump you all full of  _drogas experimentales_. Who better to test them on than unsuspecting super humans, right? If you couldn't take it then you'd simply be put down like a dog. And for the record, you should know the answer to that, Sparrow. You aren't affected by that kind of thing because your internal systems would deem it harmful and immediately expel it from your body." Hanzo and Genji both tensed at the use of his childhood nick name.

Lena sat ram rod straight, "you mean to tell us the only reason we're all here is because we were strong enough to endure experimental drug trials? The only reason we're all still alive is because we're all mentally and physically capable of withstanding insane amounts of trauma? How long was that stuff supposed to stay in our bodies?" She asked the questions in quick, disbelieving succession, and Hanzo could understand Lena's incredulity.

Sombra looked thoughtful before nodding. "Basically, and don't worry, with how fast your metabolic rates are the drugs flushed out years ago."

Angela gasped lightly. "that's why I wasn't allowed to examine any agents undergoing conditioning for up to a month afterward..." She trailed off in horror.

Sombra shook her head after a quiet moment where she seemed to gather her thoughts. " _De todas formas_ , the  _mierda_  you were all injected with came from all sorts of companies, including Talon masquerading as a ' _Guillotinite inc._ ' With this title, they were able to slip in a lovely little drug called Scopolamine into the all of your little cocktails." She looks up with smirk. "Anybody heard of it?"

Hanzo knew that the immediate downturn of his head was guilty, and she caught it. "Ah yes, I had a feeling you would Shimada."

All eyes were on him, confused and curious. Hanzo grit his teeth and resisted the urge to glare at the woman. "Scopolamine is technically a flower called 'Devil's Breath.' It is closely related to 'Nightshade,' and can be made into powder, which can then be administered to the subject in a number of ways. However-" He said turning to look at Sombra with a furrowed brow. "Scopolamine makes the subject extremely vulnerable to suggestion for a span of around nine hours, then will have no recollection of those events, this is all depending on the dosage as well; but even then, they do not completely loose all free will."

Sombra nodded, seemingly satisfied with his response. "Yes, but as you said, the subjects become very pliant. They'll listen to just about any suggestion." She shook her head again, she was doing that a lot, like the lot of them were so incredibly dumb that it was paining her.

"Think about it, I've seen military members up close. Battle brothers are loyal to the end, they wouldn't betray each other over something as  _bajo_  as a title." She pointedly looked at Jack, who's hands were balled into tight fists. "So I did a little digging, while everyone was subjected to the conditioning, only the Blackwatch agents had any Scopolamine injected into them, that included one Gabriel Reyes."

She shot Jack an amused look. "Didn't you think it was weird that the government had you two undergo conditioning?" She tutted and waved her index finger in a 'no-no' gesture. "Sloppy."

"What is your point, Sombra?" Winston growled, clearly shaken by the situation.

Sombra clearly didn't care about how much talking about their former Commander and friend was rattled the older members of Overwatch, because she just kept going, a complete disregard for how or if the information she was giving was absorbed. "Even without how many times the members of Blackwatch and Overwatch underwent the conditioning, that's enough to suggest certain....  _respuestas_... to certain triggers. Hell, with what I've seen them do, I wouldn't have put it past them to replay a constant to you in your drug induced dreams to remind you to retain the behavior in any situation. I'm not entirely certain exactly how they did it after all, and seeing as how the cowboy is the only  _cabrón_  in the room who was in Blackwatch that underwent the conditioning I'll direct the implied question to him." She looked at the man in question expectantly. 

Jesse scratched his beard for a moment in thought. "Now that you mention it, yeah. Y'all remember... Awe hell. What was that critter called? He was a monkey, all in dressed up in human clothes, had this weird dude with a hat followin' him around... Always gettin' into shit" The others looked at him in confusion as he trailed off.

"Curious George?" Argenis dragged out the syllables in question. Next to him, Hanzo noticed his mate was frowning. A deep contemplative look etched across her features that should warrant more explaining, and he was just about to ask when Jesse replied.

"Yeah! That damn monkey from the TV and books when I was a kid! You know," He gestured over his head vaguely. "Yellow hat?" Some of the others nodded in remembrance.

McCree nodded, satisfied that others knew what he was talking about. "Yeah, that little fucker kept poppin' up, always goadin' me on and tellin' me I was doin' what had to be done. He'd only show up in some pretty grizzly scenarios though..." He trailed off, grim realization forcing a deep frown across his face. "Namely infighting."

Sombra clapped in mock congratulation. "There it is, but see, that doesn't explain you though, does it  _Jessito_? You weren't affected by the drug, and that's because of Dead-Eye." She says and made a circle with her index finger and thumb, then placed it in front of her eye for a moment. "Dead-Eye short circuits your brain, causes a total mental reset. Which I am lead to believe is a lot for the human brain to handle, so the conditioning never stuck with you. So while they couldn't get their hooks into you, they got them into your beloved  _Comandante_. Then all they had to do was wait, and once Blackwatch amassed enough of a force, along with the downfall of Overwatch, Talon made it's move, activated the trigger and..." She made an explosion sound, complete with a burst of pixels from the tips of her fingers and sparks flickering in and out of existence for a moment for effect. " _Misión cumplida_."

Jack shook his head. "That doesn't explain how Ga- Reyes is alive, or why you would have to stick to Overwatch while we bring him in." Hanzo caught the little slip and filed it away for further investigation.

Sombra smirked. "I'll let the  _good Doctor_  look over those examination reports and she'll tell you what she thinks happened." She says sarcastically and gives Angela a knowing look, to her credit, Angela glares back with all the fury of a woman on trial. The former relented after a moment to answer Jack's second question. "Unfortunately, Talon had... How does the saying go?" She pauses for a moment thoughtfully. "They had their fingers in a lot of pies.." She says in a sing song voice.

Jesse scowled. "The hell does that mean?"

"It means they got to Sombra too." Hanzo's head jerked around to stare at Grace, who had responded for the woman she was currently staring at in grim acknowledgment.

Hanzo caught a muttered word from Reinhardt for the first time since the meeting began. " _Tochter_..." Hanzo is by no means fluent in German, but he could've sworn that the term  was endearing.

Grace ignored him. "Sombra here, was subjected to Talon's conditioning when she joined up, only way to be trusted within their ranks." She smirks, "Ain't that right, Som?"

Sombra glares at her briefly. "Yes, unfortunately. They conditioned me with their standard issue 'kill yourself if you ever go rogue' package."

Angela frowned. "But would that not mean you should be dead right now?"

Grace now chuckled darkly, shaking her head while Sombra silenced her with a stare. "If I was normal, yes. But seeing as how I'm the world best hacker, I've got access to some of those top of the line suppressants. The kind of mierda you give out to people who's demons find them during the day as well." She crosses her arms over her chest now. "Once a week, I take one. During the span of about forty-eight hours it leaves me... _espaciado_  in which time I'm completely vulnerable. Totally out in the open for any assassin to come in and put a bullet in my head. It would only be a matter of time before Talon finally tracked me down, more specifically Gabe." She shuddered at the apparent image, and even to Hanzo, it was a gruesome thought.

"So, while the Good Doctor here works on a cure for your amigo, I hang around. Work out some kind of deal. I'm thinking I help you gather intel on Talon operations, and in return you give me security and the cure to our little  _problema de lavado de cerebro?_ " 

Winston looked extremely suspicious to say the least. "What's to stop you from going through our secure files? From stealing our secrets as well?"

Sombra scoffed, waving a dismissive hand. " _Relajate_! I already know all of those." She smirks at Winston's bemused expression.

There is a long few moments of silence before Jesse speaks up. "I think we should do it."

Angela snaps her head up to glare at the cowboy. "You  _cannot_  be serious!"

Hanzo nods in agreement. "I concur with McCree, it would make sense, considering how valuable the intel Miss Sombra can provide us with."

Angela turned her disbelieving look on him now. "How can you _agree_?!" She hisses. "This woman is-"

"No more a threat here, than she is anywhere else." He interrupts, and Angela backs down. He has a point, so he barrels on. "If she really wanted to be harmful she would do so whether or not she is within these walls, she has already made it abundantly clear it is not a difficult feat for her to accomplish. She has shown good faith by giving us the information on Reaper,  _before_  we even considered her proposal, and without any harmful attachments along with it. Miss Sombra has also made it clear that she already knows more than even the founders of Overwatch knew of the organization and the people within it." He finishes ticking the points off on his fingers.

Jesse nods. "And even if she wanted to expose us, or... Hell, I don't know, send the entirety of Talon after us she'd have either done it already, or she'd just do it somewhere else where she ain't caught up in the cross-fire." He folds his arms across his chest and looks Sombra over in a disdainful manner. "I know her type, hundreds of 'em holed up in Deadlock for years. They're only interested in lookin' out for themselves, and it's in their best interests to help and obey whoever can help them the most."

He turned in his chair to address Winston now. "Partner, yer sittin' on a gold mine here. Sombra, best hacker in the world willin' to lend her services for however long it takes until we collect out wayward soldier. I'd call that a fair trade, either way, we're gettin' the better end of the deal here."

Sombra smiled and nodded. Jesse and Hanzo both backing her up held a lot of weight.

McCree then leaned back with a grin. "And if she double crosses us, we can always kill her."

Sombra's smirk disappears.

"As much as I don't like this, and the time frame we have to work with, I'm willing to back this up too." All eyes turn to Jack as he speaks.

Angela sighs. "Not you too, Jack."

He nods. "It'll take some time to absorb exactly what went on in Overwatch behind our backs, but for now we need to get our man back." He looks at McCree with an unreadable expression that frustrated Hanzo. "I'm tired of leaving soldiers behind." McCree seemed to agree with the sentiment and nodded.

"Though I do not trust her, I will agree to this as well." Reinhardt supplied.

"I for one, do not agree." Torbjorn huffed, crossing his arms. "She could double cross us at any given moment! And even if we kill her, there's still the possibility of her leaving behind some kind of mumbo jumbo that could kill us all!" Anegla nods in agreement.

Genji's vents hissed with released pressure in a sigh. "I am going to have to side with Doctor Ziegler on this, there is too much we could loose."

Winston nodded. "I am against this plan as well, but this is very much a team decision. We would all be working with her should the votes decide. So Grace," He looked at the brunette expectantly. "You and Argenis have the last votes." Torbjorn scoffs, muttering that the two shouldn't even be here in the first place, being new recruits and all.

If possible, Grace's frown deepened and she turned to look at her mate, they seemed to share an unspoken conversation and she sighed. Argenis pressed a kiss to the side of her head, murmuring what Hanzo assumed to be support and Grace nodded. She closes her eyes and takes a moment to think, weighing her options carefully. Hanzo knew she and Sombra had a past of some sort, and from what he could tell it was extensive, his curiosity had the dragons stirring under his skin but he quickly hushed them, assuring them he would look into the matter at the first given chance.

After a few pensive seconds she looked up and over to Winston. "I believe we should take the deal." 

Argenis nodded behind her, apparently proudly approving of his mates decision. "I side with Grace."

Winston heaved a rather despondent sigh. Events had not progressed the way he had hoped they would. Regardless, he turned to a smirking Sombra and held out his hand. "Welcome to Overwatch, Miss Sombra."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'M BACK BITCHES
> 
> I apologize for the long wait, I had terrible writers block and then I got caught up in some family drama that had me emotionally spent. Thank you for being patient!!
> 
> I also apologize for spelling or grammatical errors, it's 3:30 AM here. I'm tired.
> 
> I know I also just pissed everyone off with my god awful Spanish I'M SO SORRY IT'S ALL I COULD DO I DO NOT KNOW THE LANGUAGE HARDLY AT ALL, PLEASE FORGIVE ME.
> 
> We will be getting to the trip next chapter! G'night y'all!


	4. Lovely Games and Forced Smiles

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I recently became enamored with the Alpha/Beta/Omega universe, and honestly had to integrate this into the fic, it'll probably be really shittily done but I can't help myself. 
> 
> Okay, enjoy lovelies!

All things considered, Hanzo really should have expected it. He knew that the mission to detain Reaper less than a month after Overwatch learned he was Gabriel Reyes, would fail. But he should have expected a sniper would be waiting to shoot him down from the rafters of that decrepit warehouse. He should have expected to be knocked unconscious when he hit the ground from such a distance, and he really should have expected the seething fury emanating from the senior Overwatch members on the flight back to Gibraltar.

"What did you say McCree?' We aren't expecting to be doing this so neither will they.'?" Morrison spat at the cowboy seated across from him.

" _Put a sock in it_ , Morrison. Ain't in the mood for your particular brand of bullshit." McCree snapped in return.

Hanzo rolled his eyes at their childish behavior while Angela fussed about his shoulder. The wonders of modern medicine had left him with a wound in the final stages of healing, so she was encouraging him to be gentle and to stretch it out as often as he could.

Grace and Argenis were seated near the back, speaking in hushed tones. Hanzo narrowed his eyes at the pair, because while again, he should have expected the two to return with minimal wounds, they looked as though they had not even entered the fray. 

So, he decided to ask. "Where were you two the whole time? I do not believe I caught sight of you once."

Grace turned to give him a cool glare, a look that read she was guilty of something, and she had been fully aware he would be the one to bring it up. "We didn't go into the warehouse. I'm not too big on suicide missions."

Morrison was on his feet in a moment. "You _what?!_ " He hissed with all the fury of a betrayed man, he stalked over to the pair with his hands curled into tight fists. Argenis stood in front of his mate, standing just an inch taller than the other man and tilted his chin in the air, a dare.

Morrison ignored him for favor of turning a glare onto Grace. "We could've gotten him with your support! You crippled us!" He accused, taking a half step forward. He was stopped by Argenis hand on his chest, the latino growling a warning. Waves of angered Alpha energy rolled off of the pair and Hanzo rolled his eyes; he was never a fan of how Alphas felt it so necessary to assert their dominance through pointless brawls.

Grace scoffed, unbothered by the thick wave of outrage rolling through the room. She stood and put a hand on the small of Argenis' back. "Don't lie to yourself and try to pin this on us. That was by far, the _dumbest_ thing I've ever seen an elite force do."

Argenis nodded, shoving Morrison back a couple of steps. "We were both in the Army, Morrison. You of all people should have known better. Hell, I was a grunt and I knew better. The one boundary you never cross is that you don't let your judgement to be clouded by your emotions, and you took a giant _leap_ across it."

Grace moved to stand beside her mate. "All of you did, except maybe Hanzo and Angela. Considering they were against this plan from the start." The two nodded their agreement.

Grace shook her head while Argenis stepped forward and addressed the others. "You guys honestly thought with all of the intel we gathered from Sombra that you'd be able to pull off an op like this with only a month of preparation? Really?"

Reinhardt spoke up, grunting as Angela patched up a wound on his shoulder from a bullet graze. "We are the best, we specialize in impossible missions!"

Grace scoffed, folding her arms across her chest. "You specialize in impossible missions when you've had proper time to prepare." The giant of a man ducked his head in quiet admonishment.

Grace shook her head, turning her attention to Morrison and McCree, both of which were glaring with barely suppressed fury. "Don't give me that look you two, you both know this was the worst rescue op you've ever performed."

McCree spit. "We had all the information we needed, we had a good plan. We would have gotten him if _you two_ didn't bail!"

Grace scowled at him. "Don't be fuckin' dim. It was a shitty plan, and it was a shitty plan because y'all just learned you were gettin' fucked in the ass by your own organization for _years_. Your heads weren't in the op; they were in the med-bay, twenty years ago."

The weight of Grace's words seemed to squeeze the fight out of Morrison and McCree. She was right, and they knew it.

Sombra becoming a temporary agent to Overwatch was enough to cause a stir, but she had also revealed Overwatch's grizzly history. The fact that Gabriel Reyes was now Reaper was enough to shock them, adding the fact that they were unknowing subjects to extensive drugs trials on top of it left the senior members reaching for anything they possibly could to cope. 

Which meant they were unfit for duty, Angela having said as much, but was promptly ignored. They wanted their Commander back and their muddy past was heavily clouding their judgement.

Grace sighed, looking up and making an annoyed face. "Som, I know you're listening, you got anything on how long Reaper's gonna disappear?"

There wasn't even a pause before the woman responded. "It looks like at the very least he'll be gone for a month or two; it's more likely he'll be gone six months though."

Grace nodded, shifting to rest her weight on one foot and putting a hand on her hip. "Perfect, that means y'all can get busy shutting down Talon ops while Shimada, McCree, Argenis and myself take a little vacation."

Morrison scoffed, rolling his head and fixing her with a sarcastic smile. "Sure, and pigs fly."

"Actually, Agent Tesoro has notified Winston of her plans to take Agents Hanzo and McCree with herself and Agent Argenis to their retreat. Winston agreed that it would be beneficial for the Agents in light of recent events." Athena interjected. Much to Morrison's chagrin.

Grace smirked triumphantly. "I'm leaving you here, Morrison, to go after Talon. I know it'll help you, considering you live for that shit but these two." She jerked a thumb at McCree and Hanzo. "They were just kinda thrown into it head first, without a safety net. So while you had the choice to go into it 'cause it's what you love, they didn't. So I'm gonna see what Argenis and I's spirits got to say about them."

Hanzo bristled. "You do not need to give us some kind of respite from the life we lead."

McCree nodded, joining in Hanzo's outrage. "Yeah, we ain't some weak sons of bitches! We ain't gotta turn to drugs to deal with our shit, we ain't gotta escape reality, we've accepted our pasts. We don't need no little nineteen-year-old brat tryin' to give us a break from our lives." Hanzo was taken aback by McCree's response. It would not have been surprising coming from his own mouth, but McCree was often overly fond of the younger agents; often guiding and teaching as if they were his own children. Besides the fact that it was a little over the top.

Before Hanzo could voice any concerns he saw Grace bristle and Argenis wince, fearful gaze darting between his mate and the cowboy.

Grace took what would be a threatening step forward if she wasn't so short. "Listen here, you Clint Eastwood wannabe. _You_ asked _me_ for help, I don't wanna hear any lip comin' from you. This is what I decided to do, and _you're_ the one that went along with it." She spat, and Hanzo noticed McCree suddenly wither under her stare.

Hanzo had known for some time that Grace was ruthless, she had a good heart where it counted but she was not above using anything at her disposal to remain in an advantageous position. Grace would keep secrets of course, until you double cross her. She was rather good with threatening to let them slip though; never quite revealing what you feared to be spoken out loud but getting close enough to jolt fear into you and making you bend to whatever she wanted. Grace used fear like a well-worn tool, and she was terrifyingly good at it.

McCree, however, did not know it. That much was evident in the way the color drained from his face as Grace continued. "I was _trying_ to save you some embarrassment, but I guess-" 

McCree jumped into a standing position, his arm out in a ' _leave it alone_ ' gesture. "Alright, alright. You've made your point, girly. Damn you're meaner than a rattle snake."

Grace smirked and nodded, apparently satisfied. "Don't you forget it, neither."

Hanzo stifled a chuckle and leaned back in his seat as the cabin settled down. The fight suddenly gone from everyone now that Grace had effectively shut up Morrison and McCree.

\---------------------------------------------------------

One month later saw Hanzo settling a bag in a compartment in the airship. Lena would be dropping them off in the Swiss Alps, at the base of the mountain Tekani was built into. Grace had claimed that it's better to walk up the mountain and enjoy the sights before really getting into the thick of the gods realm. Hanzo was perfectly fine with the decision, he did enjoy the occasional walk through nature.

McCree stepped up next to him, jostling him out of his thoughts as the American shoved his luggage into the compartment above Hanzo's. "Remind me why the _hell_ I agreed to this again?"

Hanzo shrugged. "You stopped Grace before she could tell us." McCree grumbled a quip, which on any normal day would concern Hanzo; McCree was in an awful mood, which almost always indicated something was wrong, but he also knew it was four o' clock in the morning and McCree and Hanzo both had been roused out of their beds to hurry onto the aircraft by an overly enthusiastic Grace Liincampf, no warning had been given that they would be departing that morning. She just burst into Hanzo's dorm, demanding that he pack a suitcase because they were leaving for Tekani in thirty minutes. Hanzo winced at the carpet burn on his knee from scrambling to pack everything he would need for the trip.

The devil herself hopped onto the ramp and into the plane, eyes glimmering with far too much excitement. Even her mate, who kissed her head as he passed to find a seat, seemed to exude confidence and energy. An Alpha, if Hanzo ever saw one.

"What has you two so... Exuberant?" He inquired, strapping himself in across from the pair as Lena informed them over the comm that they were taking off.

Grace let out a high pitched squeal, barely containing her excitement. "Argenis and I feel our best when we're at Tekani. It's exhilarating! You'll feel it too once we get there, you'll have heaps of energy. You too, McCree." She nodded at the pouting cowboy eyeing the on-board coffee machine longingly. "It affects anyone on the mountain. The people who live in a village at the foothills are some of the nicest, healthiest people I've ever met." She continued giddily.

Hanzo smiled at her enthusiasm, then leaned back to sleep until they would land again.

\-----------------------------------------------------------------

The four of them wave goodbye as Lena took off. Grace insisted that their luggage would go in a cart Argenis and herself kept stowed away in a cave nearby. It was just a short distance to walk, so they set out to the mountain side.

When they reached the cave, even Hanzo couldn't tell it was there with how well hidden Grace had positioned the ferns and underbrush around it. But Argenis reached behind the overlying lichen and pulled out a nondescript bamboo cart. 

After placing his bags in the cart, Hanzo looked over the mountain above them while Grace and Argenis strapped the luggage down with straps ending in metal. It was not modernized in any way, which the fact in of itself was impressive enough. There was a well worn dirt path in front of them, with small forest fauna darting in and out of eyesight, some even bounded up to greet the two soulmates, apparently familiar with their presence.

Stone steps occasionally dotted the path, but were worn down and half buried in dirt from years of the mountainous whether. Hanzo could only assume that Tekani itself would be some version of Zenyatta's monastery in Nepal.

McCree cleared his throat after a few moments of Grace tittering and cooing to a squirrel with an overly fluffy tail. She turned her attention to him after setting the small creature on the ground. "So are we gonna pull this thing up the mountain? I'm feelin' spry as a baby goat but I ain't as young as I once was."

Hanzo could only nod his agreement to the statement concerning his energy levels. Hanzo felt wonderous, his body no longer held the familiar aches he had grown used to over the years, and while he could most certainly be able to pull the cart up the mountain himself, he felt no desire to do so. He would much rather run through the would and climb trees as he had in his youth, he almost chuckled at his own want to engage in such a childish pass-time.

Grace scoffed. "Are you kidding? Hell naw, I'd rather go running, I dunno about y'all. We do this instead." She nodded at Argenis who grinned, the tattoo on his shoulder burned orange as the spirit of his god emerged and Hanzo watched in awe as the bird grew to a massive size.

The Phoenix cawed, landing on the grand and shaking out it's feathers. Hanzo noticed that the feathers were alight with orange flames at the ends. Giving the bird the impression of being on fire in all it's entirety, but one could see the detail of what were sure to be the softest of feathers beneath the flames.

Argenis reached up, stroking the great bird along it's neck. It cooed it's approval and looked to him for instructions. He jerked his head at the cart. "Think you can take this up there and come back to me? It's been a while since we've gone for a flight." The Phoenix screeched it's excitement then spread two powerful wings. Hanzo watched, mesmerized as it lifted off, accepting the metal hook Argenis offered then took off for the ruins up the mountain.

Argenis smiled as he watched it go, then turned and out right laughed. It took Hanzo a moment to gather that the Alpha was laughing at McCree's expression instead of his own. But by the time Hanzo could turn to look, the cowboy had taken off his hat and was holding it over his chest in reverence. "That is an incredible sight to behold, _mi amigo_. Does the bird have a name? Can you do that Grace?" He asked curiously.

Argenis nodded and Grace grinned devilishly. "His name is Axel."

Hanzo raised a questioning brow. "Such a simple named for such an other-worldly being." Argenis shot him an unimpressed look.

"You named one of your dragons after a fucking noodle."

"Fair enough."

The small group was about twenty minutes into climbing the mountain when McCree spoke up. It was a pity, Hanzo was enjoying listening to the fauna as they tangled through the underbrush, smiling at Grace's excited squeals when a cute critter scampered across the pathway. "So, you never answered my question, girly."

She stopped abruptly and turned to address the cowboy. "Ah, right that's because-"

A cry from above cut her off, and they all turned to see Axel approaching, now uninhibited by the cart.

Argenis' eyes lit up and he took a few steps forward, holding up a hand to the beast as it shrank in the air and reached out with flaming talons to grasp the proffered arm.

Hanzo jumped back when Argenis burst into flames, the beast on his arm merging with him and the fire grew in its intensity until it engulfed his form. When the flames dissipated it left behind the Phoenix and Hanzo panicked for half a beat until he remembered the night in which Grace had transformed in the practice range. McCree however, was back pedaling as fast as he could.

"I told y'all! Damn gods are after me and they got Argenis just fer bein' near me!"

Grace just laughed at his accusation. "No, you paranoid weirdo. It's just an ability we have, Argenis and I can either summon our spirits into being, or we can take their shape." She informed. "We're taking their shapes because dammit, I want to _run_."

And with that, she became shrouded in a cloud of ash that left behind the snow leopard Hanzo recognized from the training range.

Hanzo had been feeling the stir of his dragons since they touched down. Energetic and eager to fly, they were calm though. This was not a blood-thirsty straining to be released, they were merely interested in exploring their new surroundings. Eager to meet the other spirits taking up residence here.

So Hanzo did not try to quell their desires, allowing them to rise from his arm without further hesitation. Soba and Kyo floated in front of him as a pair of what Grace often called them with no small amount of fondness, ' _Noodle dragons_.'

The two purred their greetings to their master, before slithering through the air over to nuzzle McCree affectionately. Hanzo felt the urge to snap at them, tell them to leave the silly cowboy alone, but one quick look from Kyo told him they would not listen. The pair completely absorbed in rubbing themselves all around his chest, shoulders and neck. 

Hanzo shot Grace a look of warning when he heard a rather amused chuffing sound from behind him, she had a spirit, she knew exactly why Kyo and Soba were so enamored with McCree. This exact reason was why he rarely allowed them to solidify anywhere near the cowboy, the one time he did they refused to uncurl from his lap and shoulders for hours until they had been called away on mission.

Now, McCree was chuckling, petting the two as they swirled around him. "Well howdy, haven't seen you boys in a while. You should complain to your daddy more often about being let out to play." He grinned at Hanzo's unamused expression.

"They are overly affectionate far too often for my liking." He replied simply before shooing the beasts to go explore, Grace and Argenis hot on their tails.

McCree chuckled fondly as the four flitted through the trees, surprisingly without catching anything on fire. "You really should let them out more often, Hanzo." The cowboy intoned, starting their journey up the mountain, keeping close to Hanzo's side. "I don't mind them bein' all cuddly. 'Specially durin' the winter. Those two are damn furnaces and it's as close to heaven as I'll ever get when they cuddle up on a cold night."

Hanzo desperately tried to quash the rising warmth in his chest, the dragons could hear everything he heard and they were rumbling happy at the cowboys confession. Attempting to draw out his own purr of contentment. "I will... Consider it."

McCree seemed happy with the response, grinning broadly. "That's all I ask, partner."

They fell into a companionable silence for a time, the two enjoying the trek up to their destination. More than once Hanzo had to help McCree scale up a particularly troublesome incline, though to his credit they were all directly vertical, with few -if any- footholds. Regardless, it did not inhibit their energy any. Hanzo suspected Grace had forgotten to inform them of the broken places in the trail because she and her mate climbed the mountain in their spirits forms. Something like that would hardly be of challenge to a bird and a great cat.

After helped the grunting cowboy up yet another vertical incline, the two enjoyed the lapse of activity as the path flattened. McCree tipped his hat in thanks to Hanzo and they continued their journey.

A few moments into the silence Hanzo was floored by an inquiry from his companion. "So are you an Alpha?"

Hanzo nearly tripped and fell on his face, thankful for his quick reflexes as he stopped and addressed the seemingly nonchalant cowboy. "Nani?"

McCree shrugged. "I mean, I'm an Alpha. I got a damn good sniffer on me and not once have I ever sniffed out anything on you. If I'm goin' too far just tell me and I'll let it drop, but I got real curious and figured I'd ask instead of beatin' around the bush or goin' behind you're back to find out."

While Hanzo did greatly appreciate McCree asking him directly, but Hanzo took suppressants for a reason. His Omega status was a secret he kept closely guarded, his brother being a Beta was seen as a short coming in the Elders eyes when they were children. Believing that Hanzo would be second to his sibling had been what originally started the rift between the siblings. After learning of their judgement the brothers threw themselves into their own interests, striving towards proving the Elders wrong in their own rights, Genji by enjoying nights filled with debauchery, and Hanzo by delving further into his studies to become the best he could possibly be.

After the result of such behaviors, Hanzo shoved his Omega status as far down as he possibly could. He knew it was not the direct cause of what happened to the brothers, but he still resented his own genetic weakness.

So he curled his lip, despite the thrumming of his heart to learn that McCree was an Alpha. "It is going much too far, cowboy."

McCree held up his hands in an apologetic gesture. "My bad, didn't mean ta' rile ya up." And true to his word, he did let it drop. The two finished the rest of their trek in relative silence, only breaking it occasionally to speak on matters concerning Overwatch or to comment on the flora around them. Hanzo noticed McCree was very carefully avoiding the subject of Reaper. But he could not find it in his heart to blame him, knowing how wracked his thoughts must be by having his own ghost come back to haunt him.

When they reached the ruins Hanzo stared in open awe.

Massive stone ruins, they were rather plain looking for the most. Not nearly as intricate as the monastery Zenyatta hailed from, these ruins were ancient and if it weren't for their nature Hanzo would not step foot near them for fear of the ruins collapsing on his head.

Hanzo struggled to describe the ruins even as he looked at them, for the most part they looked to be something out of a movie. They were built directly into the side of the mountain, round rooms peeking out of the wooded areas, square holes carved into the stone to take on the appearance of windows. Varying floors staggered around one another until you reached the top, which was obscured by a plateau, but Hanzo could see the edges of outdoor buildings meant for various purposes on the side he could see.

The two turned to see Grace burst from the bushes with a squeal, Kyo and Soba nipping at her tail, and sliding to a halt in front of them on her rear end. She grinned sheepishly up at them and shot the dragons a bemused look when they thumped into her back, unable to stop quick enough.

Hanzo quirked an amused brow at the trio, heart fluttering at McCree's chuckle. They looked up at Argenis' shriek. The Phoenix landed near the entrance, and once again separating the bird from the man. Grace mewled happily and trotted over, the form of the cat and the woman separating but solidifying without issue.

Kyo and Soba made no move to return to their master, slithering over to greet him before Kyo nipped at his brothers antler, Soba readily snapped back and the two floated off to tussle with one another. Hanzo sighed, they were truly children at heart.

As the four of them went about getting their luggage and heading into the ruins, Hanzo noticed Grace lagging behind. A slight change in her scent that Hanzo was hard pressed to identify, even the leopard beside her had noticed and was rubbing against her leg in concern, yet Argenis was leading the way to where the group would pick out their rooms for the duration of their stay in Tekani. Hanzo couldn't help but wonder if her heat had unexpectedly smacked her on the back of her head out of no where.

Grace was not ashamed of her status as an Omega. She wore it proudly, something Hanzo envied about her. She cared little for the slang thrown her way, her strength and prowess in battle spoke volumes about how the stereotypical Omega was not something that applied to her. Grace was the kind of person that Omega's strived to be, the kind of proud, effortlessly graceful woman that put even some Alpha's to shame. Not once in the time that Hanzo had known her did he ever see her behaving ashamed, or secretive about her biology. More than once he had considered asking her about how she was able to be so proud of her status when Omega's were looked at like cum-dumpsters.

He was jolted out of his thoughts when he heard a thud behind them, and a string of concerned mewls from the leopard. The three men immediately turned to see Grace had collapsed and was grunting in pain on the hard floor.

Argenis was by her side in a moment, murmuring concerns and taking her into his lap. Hanzo stood beside him, confused and glancing at the feline sitting next to her. The cat sniffed her master once, before snorting and turning away. Hanzo tilted his head curiously before snapping to look at Argenis when he growled.

"So that's what's going on, huh?" He spat at the cat, who flicked her tail in response. Argenis shook his head and clicked his tongue at Axel. The phoenix cawed and fluttered over, landing to rest beside Argenis' mate. She looked to be in a great deal of pain, clutching her chest, her face skewed in agony and groaning lightly. Her breath was coming in short gasps and she was refusing to open her eyes. At least she was conscious.

Argenis cooed to his spirit. "Hey, buddy. Can you help her?" Axel shrieked in response before nuzzling Grace's cheek lightly, orange light radiated from the touch and Grace immediately stilled, slowly opening her eyes and groaning to see their faces looking at her worriedly.

"Thanks, babe, Axel." She nodded to the bird and moved to stand. Hanzo expected Argenis to push her back down or carry her himself, but he merely helped his mate stand, rubbing a comforting hand along her spine.

"What in the name of Mary, Mother and Joseph was that?!" McCree exclaimed angrily, his scent radiating confusion and a slight pinch of anger. It smelled of cinnamon in the middle of a great forest and Hanzo definitely _did_ _not_ think that he wanted to wrap himself in the scent. When was his next heat again? It had to be soon if such thoughts were invading his head space.

Grace snorted, looking a little wobbly on her feet. "Don't matter."

"Like hell it don't!" McCree retorted angrily. He took a step towards her, but Argenis blocked his way. Hanzo could feel the oppressive waves of Alpha energy rolling off the two, could hear the guttural growl forcing it's way from Argenis throat. The two were bristling with anger, protective from Argenis and worried from McCree. But the details of why they were angry would be easily lost when two Alphas squared up in front of each other; their kind often fought over less.

Hanzo was just about to pull Kyo and Soba back to him from where they were tossing around rocks in a game so as to break up the two Alphas when Grace spoke up. "Alright, alright cool your jets you two. Skadi and Helios will be pissed as _hell_ if y'all start tryin' to rip each other apart."

Argenis' lip curled in warning, his face right up in front of McCree's, a silent challenge, but backed off, stepping back to allow his mate to speak. "Since we're gonna be the only ones here, and we don't have Athena to let you know when it happens, lover, they should know in case something goes wrong and you're not around to help. We both know Skala here won't notify anyone." The leopard rumbled in agreement, sometimes cats could be truly uncaring creatures.

Argenis stiffened, put off at the though of being unable to help his mate, but nodded his assent. He relaxed marginally and gestured for Hanzo and McCree to take a seat at the stone table across the cavern.

Hanzo was intrigued, he did note that the room was basically a massive cavern, covered in etched murals across the walls detailing the history of the past inhabitants. He would look closer at a later point, for now he was interested in hearing what Grace had to say.

Once the four of them were seated, Grace sighed, resting her face in her hands across the table for a moment to collect herself before speaking. "First thing you need to know, that was a very minor episode. Usually their much worse and Axel has to work his magic for a couple of minutes before it passes. For the most part they only ever happen once every few months; however they've started happening much more often recently." She and Argenis shared a worried look. "They're heart attacks, basically. It's a bit more complicated than that for the most part, considering my mate and I's unique position, but all you really need to know is that every time it happens I die."

Hanzo stuttered and McCree sputtered. "Nani?"

"The hell do you mean, ' _die_ '?"

"It's a thing to do with my past, listen what y'all need to do, it shouldn't, but if it ever happen, is call for Axel." She jerked her head at the bird currently fluffing it's feather in pride on the back of Argenis' seat. "He'll be able to hear you no matter where you are, just call and he'll come over and do his thing and I'll be fine."

McCree narrowed his eyes at the woman across the table with her face being held by her hands. "What in god's name did you _do_ to yerself, girly?" Hanzo nodded, sharing the confusion.

Grace grumbled. "It doesn't matter, just do what I told you if it ever happens and it'll all be fine." She shook herself and Hanzo resisted drilling her for more answers. "Now! Let's get settled in shall we?"


	5. Wrong Decisions and Fond Memories

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Edit: Chapters 1 and 2 have been updated to include the A/B/O verse, they are small little things here and there, we don't really REALLY start talking about the A/B/O's until the next chapter. It's nothing huge, only sub-genders everyone knows about already have been mentioned (aside from Angela's), if you don't feel like going back to see, don't worry you're not missing much.

 

"You've got about five seconds to explain yourself."

Frozen in place, being stared down by a very naked and unfathomably furious Grace, Jesse thought about the recent time he spent in these ruins that lead to this event.

They had been at Tekani for about two weeks. McCree noticed on the second day that the individual scents of his fellow agents were gone, and when he asked why Argenis informed him that due to the beings they're here to see, their noses wouldn't be able to sniff each other out. At Jesse's undignified flapping at such a notion Argenis had just shrugged.

"I'm not exactly in a position to be telling them what should and shouldn't be done. They're gods, man. They don't need a reason to be doing anything."

Jesse had relented on the subject, knowing the latino was right, but not without an awful lot of complaining.

Hanzo didn't seem bothered by this development in the slightest.

Which, if McCree was honest, (and he was) really freaked him out. He expected the archer to rely heavily on his sense of smell; it would make sense, considering how the man was able to find anyone he pleased no matter where they were. He always seemed to be one step ahead of everyone.

But, again, Jesse was not someone to judge another person by what sub-gender they were. If Hanzo was unfazed by their situation in lacking the ability to scent out each other, that wasn't a bad thing, and really it shouldn't bother Jesse. He shouldn't be worried about if the archer would be caught unawares without his sense of smell.

But, he was.

Now, Jesse had expected at the very least, for there to be some modern showers. Or, really showers at all. But, of course not. The soulmates had explained that they bathe in a stream nearby, Axel uses his 'Phoenix mojo' (as Grace so eloquently put it,) to heat up the water and that's how they bathed. Every one of his teammates were on board with the concept, but Jesse was just the least bit skeptical of Axel turning out to be Argenis in bird form, spying on him to make fun. Not that Jesse was ashamed of himself, no he was actually rather proud. But he would still prefer to be spared the embarrassment, so he would sneak off to bathe on the pretense of needing some time to himself, the others never questioned it out of respect for his privacy and Jesse was just fine with it that way.

Which is how he got here.

McCree has been cursing the gods that inhabit this damn mountain since his sniffer stopped tellin' him who was around and who wasn't. Now, he really wishes they would just strike him dead where he stands, but of course no merciful bolt of lightening fries him. In hindsight, given that his nose couldn't scent out the other members of his team, he should have asked if she was taking a bath before leaving Hanzo and Argenis to their long-range weapons practice.

Oh, Argenis was going to _murder_ him.

"Cowboy.." Grace hissed, arms reaching to cover her chest and nether regions under the water. Her voice was deathly low and Jesse could see just the faintest of glowing on her shoulder. _Shit_ , never mind Argenis, that damn cat would give him a far more painful death.

He came to his senses and back pedaled, moving to stand behind a tree and _then_ begin to explain himself. "N-Now hold on there, Miss Grace! I-I swear I didn't know! I woulda never even left my room if my sniffer were workin' like usual! I had no idea that y-you w-were.." He trailed off, flushing bright red and biting his tongue to tamp down his instincts.

McCree was very comfortable with his sexuality- then again he was comfortable with just about every aspect of himself. He was perfectly fine with getting it on with just about anyone who wanted to, he wouldn't actively look for it but if the opportunity presented itself- who was he to deny himself and someone else a bit of fun?

The one thing he would never mess with was bonded Omega's. A pissed off Alpha was just not worth it and Jesse was not in the business of wrecking homes.

There was complete silence behind him for what felt like an eternity, then the sound of something clicking -and boy, howdy did that sound like one of _the twins_ \- and then water splashing as Grace exiting the stream. Jesse shut his eyes tightly, and ground his teeth together. He clutched his towel and little bundle of hygiene products to his chest; pissed off Omega's, especially if the Omega was _Grace_ , were not particularly easy to handle either.

Then a scent hit his nose and nearly knocked him on his ass despite the bark digging into his back; Omega in heat. Now, Jesse had smelled Grace's heat before, and while intoxicating, the threat of Argenis killing him was always enough to deter the cowboy. Not to mention McCree had _morals_ , a scent was _not_ going to change his mind, no matter that it was directly in front of him.

Wait, what?

His eyes flew open to see a very naked, purring Grace in front of him. A knowing smirk plastered on her face. Where her eyes always purple? Was her skin always so smooth and soft looking? What would it look like-

Jesse derailed that train of though the second it went bad with a pinch to his side.

"M-Miss Grace.. Uh, y-yer naked." He stuttered looking away, his face was heating up and it was hard not to shift and wiggle under her stare.

Jesse shook himself. What the _fuck_ was he _doing_? Jesse is a grown man, he is _not_ a pup who can't control his urges anymore. And even if he can't , the other party clearly can, andwhy the hell is he _squirming_?

Damn, those eyes are gorgeous.

"I'm well aware." She purred, reaching up with a hand to grip his chin and make him meet her own eyes. "Argenis won't know."

McCree sputtered, pulling her hand away with his own. "Okay, first of all, of course he will he's an Alpha. He'll smell it the second you step inside! Second of all, you're nineteen!"

She shrugged. "That's legal, and no he won't. Remember the scent blockers?" She reminded tapping her nose and sticking her face in his so he had no choice but to look into her eyes. Were her eyes always this gorgeous? Jesse couldn't remember.

'Get a hold of yourself, Jesse McCree.' He silently chastised himself. Out loud he said. "Look, girly. It's not that you ain't a looker, you are for damn sure a-..." He trailed off, allowing his eyes to wander just because he was so damn weak. A huge mistake on his part. "Looker.." He trailed off again and gulped.

"Oh, come on Jesse!" She whimpered, wrapping her arms around his neck and moving his face to look directly at her again. Grace pressed her body against his, and he bit his lip so hard he tasted copper. She purred, literally purred like a freakin' cat, and damn if it didn't got straight to his groin. Then moved up close to his ear and licked the shell of his ear lobe, "come on, don't you wanna play? Alpha..?" She begged in just the prettiest damn mewl Jesse had ever heard.

With that, Jesse's self-control went flying out the window. With a low growl he grabbed her arm and spun her around, dropping his bathing things on the ground and pinned her to the tree. Grace gasped in surprise, a flash of alarm phased across her features before she seemed to collect herself and leveled him with a devious smirk. "What's the matter, cowboy? Afraid you can't make the kitty purr?"

Jesse took a few deep breath to calm himself, damn that scent was powerful. Did it always smell like citrus? He couldn't remember, and he promptly forgot what he was asking himself when she used his hold on her wrists above her head to wrap her legs around his waist and pull his groin against her snatch. Grace hissed softly, and ground against him, her hips moving in hypnotic circles. McCree coughed and cursed, looking at her already pleasure drunk face to see a small smile. "Yes or no, cowboy?"

Jesse was not one to back down from a challenge.

\----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

A week had gone by, and Argenis had not said a word.

Jesse supposed it really was because Grace was right about him being unable to smell the cowboy on her, but McCree couldn't shake the feeling that the man was just biding his time to catch Jesse unawares and cut off his balls.

Jesse shuddered and crossed his legs.

He put his chin in his hand and stared blankly at the stone wall of what Jesse was hard pressed to call the kitchen.

It was an nondescript area, a single table and wooden cabinets covering the walls filled to the brim with cheese, vegetables, and other foods that could stand alone without the need of a refrigerator. They ate meat sure, but only after Grace had hunted down an elk and dragged it back. Argenis insisted that she skin and collect the meat in a bag outside of the walls of Tekani, unwilling to watch his mate tear through a helpless animal.

Which, was honestly exceedingly strange, if anything Jesse would've pegged Grace for the squeamish one of the two; but then again, she embodied a snow leopard, and lord knows those things don't give a damn about what dies or how it dies. But Argenis impersonated a predator of sorts as well... It was too much work to figure those two out, their dynamic worked for them and Jesse wasn't about to question a working team.

He just hoped he remained alive long enough to appreciate it when they got back to Gibraltar.

Before he could continue his train of thoughts a light hand touched his shoulder, Jesse whipped around, fully expecting Grace to be behind him; he was relieved to find Hanzo staring at him with a quirked eyebrow.

"It is not often I find you so deep in thought you cannot register the presence of another for five minutes straight." Hanzo intoned with a lilt of question to his voice.

Damn, had he really been so lost in thought? Jesse waved a hand in dismissal as Hanzo set about making a pot of tea above the fire pit. "I ain't as attentive when I ain't got my nose to help me keep track of everything."

Hanzo hummed in acknowledgement. "It is foolish to rely so heavily upon one of your senses, what if you were to loose it in the midst of battle?"

The American shrugged, watching the archer go about his buisness. He was wearing a nondescript black tank top, and grey silk pants. "Well, seein' as how it was you that got the drop on me, I ain't too sure. You're hard to track as it is."

Was that a smirk? "I try to be discreet in all things."

Definitely a smirk.

McCree chuckled, leaning back in the wooden seat that creaked in protest of his weight. "What's got you awake at such an ungodly hour, partner?"

Hanzo stiffened a little, but remained silent. McCree didn't need a response to figure out what was wrong.

After a moment of silence, Hanzo finishes making his tea and comes to sit at the table with a mug. "So.." He intones, thumb rubbing lightly over the porcelain, "you are an Alpha?"

Startled, McCree stutters. "Y-yeah." Then he recovered and smirked. "Why d'ya think I'm so good at kickin' ass?"

Hanzo sniffed haughtily at that. "Your sub-gender does not determine such things, though I suppose in your time during Blackwatch you would have had to become well versed in the subject. I am sure there were plenty of other Alphas to argue with." He sniffed again, tilting his chin up. "Truly brutish creatures."

Jesse rolled his eyes. "First off, no need to stick your nose in the air. Hell, I don't even gotta have a response to know you're an Alpha from that display- now what did I say about your damn feathers?" He cut himself off at Hanzo's bristle. "I didn't mean no offense damn it, I whole heartily agree with you." He grumbled a little bit under his breath.

"What was that?" Hanzo narrowed his eyes.

"I said you're a damn peacock fannin' it's feathers like he's got somethin' to prove!" Jesse shot back.

Hanzo's eyes flew open, simply staring at Jesse and for a moment, The American thought Hanzo would be the one to end him instead of Argenis; but Hanzo burst into laughter, clutching his stomach and bending over the table so his unbound hair brushed the wooden surface.

"You.. Genji used to say the same thing... About you!" He choked out between laughs.

Jesse made a sound of indignation. "The hell?"

Hanzo shook his head, trying to contain his chuckling and waving a hand in front of his face; as though he was trying to dispel the joke. "He said that when you met new recruits when you climbed through the ranks you would use your Alpha voice to intimidate them!"

McCree growled lightly, damn that fucking cyborg q-tip. "Fuckin' kids wouldn't listen if I didn't! Reyes did that same thing to me when he recruited me."

Hanzo's laughter died away slowly, although he was sure to tease Jesse for his pouting. Jesse mumbled in response that Hanzo was more of a peacock than the cowboy.

"Says the man who runs around in a god forsaken shawl."

"Alright, it's a serape, and you're one to talk with that gold ribbon-"

"Scarf."

"- _Whatever!_ I could spot you a mile away with that thing flappin' in the wind."

Hanzo quirked an amused brow. " _Whatever?_ What _are_ you? A sixteen year old girl?"

Jesse guffawed. "If I were sixteen year old girl, this wouldn't be my occupation."

Hanzo nodded. "You have a good point."

There were a few beats of silence before Jesse grumbled, defeated. "'Sides. I was the only Alpha in Blackwatch, kinda had to be all high an' mighty for any kinda respect to be given."

Hanzo jerked his head at that. "The _only_ Alpha? Surely Commander Reyes-"

McCree cut him off with a shake of his head. "Nah, Reyes was a Beta."

Hanzo's head cocked to the side. "But you said he used an Alpha voice when he recruited you."

Jesse chuckled, pulling a cigarillo out of his breast pocket. "I was seventeen, I didn't even know how to use my own Alpha voice. All I knew was he was yellin' at me and it was downright intimidatin'." He shrugged. "Maybe he was just real good at fakin' it; I dunno, weren't my problem and I wasn't gonna go stickin' my nose where it don't belong."

Hanzo nodded in understanding, his own father was a Beta, and he had once been able to display a startling impersonation of an Alpha voice. "Then what was Commander Morrison?"

Jesse chuckled, mind suddenly flashing through memories that were too close to his heart. A violin bow drawn across the strings of his heart, singing the saddest melody the world could possibly offer and forcing a sad smile to his lips in the flickering light of the fire pit. "Omega. They kept their sub-genders a well concealed fact though, what country is ever gonna respect any military with an Omega Commander?" Hanzo scowled at the rhetorical question, and Jesse nodded sadly.

"I agree, it's fucked up view, but the military is for intimidation, and there's intimidation in perfection." Jesse sighed, suddenly feeling very tired. "Some kinda doomsday squad that displays perfection at every turn? Not only is that scary as hell but that leaves a lot of room for error." He looked up at Hanzo, feeling every bit as old as he was. "I honestly ain't surprised the old Overwatch kissed the dirt, you try to make yourselves out to be this perfect, end all, be all protection squad and you're not givin' yourself enough room for mistakes; and I think you and I both know how much the world loves to watch others fall."

Hanzo was clearly confused by McCree's sudden shift in mood. But Jesse didn't care, it was late night's like these and talks about the past that got to him. His mind was running off on a trillion different tangents and not one of the brought any kind of peace to his weary soul. It was a hard truth to swallow.

Gabriel had fought tooth and nail to keep his neutral sub-gender status quiet among Jesse and the agents of Blackwatch. The former Commander had worked overtime in effort to keep his subordinates in line, even challenging some of the other rowdy Beta's to a brawl. When asked about his scent he just said he used blockers because he didn't have time for testosterone fueled bullshit, but Jesse knew. Jesse was the only one in Blackwatch who knew, he was the only Alpha and thus Reyes used him for intimidation of the other recruits and occasionally nosy Overwatch members. 

Jesse hadn't gone quietly with this plan though; oh no, he spat in his Commanders face at any given opportunity. Reyes must have seen something in the kid though, -or more likely took pity on the scrawny scrap of meat- and took Jesse under Reyes' wing; even the great Captain Ana Amari took a shining to him. The two worked tirelessly and eventually McCree became the man he is today, but they were more than his commanding officers, they were his family.

That pulled a small quirk of the corner of his lips; family. His mother used to always preach about how family only consisted of one thing: blood. How wrong was she? Jesse had become close with several Overwatch members, while he preferred the no-bars-held atmosphere of Blackwatch- he felt that Reyes, Genji, and himself had a family with some of the Overwatch members. A fragile little thing, broken people finding solace in each other- an orchestra of violently different parts coming together to sing a beautiful chorus of warriors into the heavens. None of them were whole or entirely good people, but they were all willing to pay the price to make the world a place _for_ the good people.

In some sense, Jesse supposed that Overwatch as a whole was humanity's Blackwatch. A beautiful mural full of vibrant colors and fancy font, but look too close and it's all nasty business and killers. The kind of work they did left scars and broken bones, broken minds sought out one another out to fit together in odd shapes to hold one another up, they always tried for one another; they were a family, no matter what.

Even in the year before Jesse left Blackwatch, when everything was going to hell. When Gabriel Reyes and Jack Morrison couldn't even pass each other in the hallway without trading tired, resigned barbs, everyone gathered to celebrate his birthday, despite his protests. The Commanders of Overwatch and Blackwatch made up for the night to give the cowboy a great party, and ended up having fun themselves. Jesse could remember clearly Reyes' face when Morrison smushed his slice of cake in the Commander's face. There had been immediate silence, everyone sure that their fragile truce was about to shatter and the night would be over; but Gabriel simply asked if everyone had gotten enough cake, then gracefully dropped the other half of it on his counterpart's head.

Jesse smiled, that was one of his favorites.

"Jesse?"

He jerked his head up from where he had been staring at his unlit cigarillo, Hanzo had never used his first name. "Wha?"

The other man looked concerned. "You're crying."

Sure enough, Jesse reached up to confirm this and his fingers came away wet. He scowled and scrubbed his face with his sleeve.

"Hate to break up the party, but we gotta bounce."

The pair jerked to see Grace and Argenis coming down the hallway from the wing that held their rooms. 

Hanzo quirked a brow, at some point Kyo and Soba had made themselves comfortable by the fire, only to raise their heads at the sudden noise. Soba hissed lightly at Grace, and McCree couldn't help his flush of shame. He knew why the dragon was angry with her.

Hanzo didn't seem to notice or care. "What do you mean?"

Grace set her suitcases near the entrance, before moving to grab her coffee bottles from a cabinet. "Somethin's been goin' on at base. Athena found the reason for the explosion durin' our training simulation before we got Sombra. Winston says it's real bad and needs us back on base."

Jesse nodded, standing up. They never got around to talking to Helios and Skadi, but that could wait. If Winston found it necessary to call them back over this it could be very disastrous indeed. "How long till Lena gets here?"

Argenis checked his watch. "About fifteen minutes."

Hanzo nodded. "Then we will get our things and meet you outside."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> DUN DUN DUUUUNNNNNN!
> 
> OH YOU THOUGHT GRACE WAS A NICE 'LIL MARSH MELLOW EH?
> 
> Boy oh boy have I got some plans for this. I'm sorry it's not as long as usual, (as well as any spelling and grammatical errors, it's super late here again,) I'm still nursing a migraine 'and we all know how much computer screens help with head issues :D' (there be sarcasm in the lil apostrophies.)
> 
> There, now you know Reyes' and Morrison's sub-genders. I'm gonna have a lot of fun with this, I'm super excited for the next chapter! A lot of confusing things, and stuff you read that makes you go "..... That's not a thing." In this chapter are explained in the next one I promise, but I needs a break ;~;
> 
> On a side note I changed my user name here, I'm not entirely sure what all that affects but the warning said something about bookmarks, so if I messed with anything for you guys I'm sorry!
> 
> As always thank you for reading!


	6. The Sound of A Guillotine

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Edit: I have updated this chapter because I had ideas.

"Hey there Lena, what's goin' on at the Watchpoint?" Jesse intoned, stepping into the cockpit.

The others were putting their things into the luggage slots and settling down for rest on the flight back to Gibraltar. The time was about 02:00 after all.

Lena's eyes went wide and she turned abruptly to look at Jesse, the Alpha jumped, still unable to smell Lena's fear but able to see it in her eyes. "What's got you spooked, doll?"

"Shh!" She hissed, a finger to her lips and looking past him warily. She motioned for him to shut the door and turned back to the console, directing them home. When she looked back to see he hadn't fulfilled her silent request she pursed her lips and motioned with her head, eyes darting around like a fearful mare cornered by a mountain lion.

"Alright, alright." He murmured, hands raised as if he really were attempting to placate a spooked horse; no a fearful Lena was much worse. Once he closed the door he turned back with his arms crossed. "Lena?"

The British woman sighed in relief as the aircraft tilted to head towards home. "Sorry, love. Couldn't risk them hearing anything."

Jesse scratched his chin. "I doubt they would've anyhow. Some mojo on the mountain has our sense o' smell and hearin' in the shitter." He informed her, before doing a double take. "Wait, what're you hidin' from the rest?"

Lena shook her head, "Athena found a bug in her system, and there were traces of Sombra's DNA in it. Winston gave me specific instructions to only give you a heads up, he feels like you're the only one that can keep it quiet and not freak out."

Jesse shook his head. "So? Sombra's always handlin' all kinds of tech, especially before she came to Overwatch for help."

Lena waved her hands in frustration. "No, Jesse. Sombra's DNA was  _inside_  of the bug! Like their genetic makeup was almost the same. There's schematics of the bug waiting for us to look at in Winston's lab, but she's under some serious suspicions right now."

Jesse shook his head, but before he could question anything Lena spoke up again. "You said that something on the mountain was dampening your hearing and listening?" 

At Jesse's nod Lena turned back to the console and began furiously typing away on a keyboard in front of a holographic projector. Jesse came over to stare at the projection with a furrowed brow; there were medical reports that he was almost sure Lena couldn't understand any better than he could. 

"It's not just you that's lost your senses, love. It's all of us!" She told him. "Look at this," She said pointing to a line in McCree's medical file. "All of us have elevated levels of Dopamine, from what Angela's told me that's the chemical in our brains that make us feel happy, and while it's not necessarily a bad thing to have elevated levels of Dopamine, it is very strange to see such a spike since Sombra's showed up."

Jesse nodded a little, "so what're you tryin' to say, girly?"

Lena worried her lower lip for a moment. "I'll let Angela explain it when we get back. We've all been called to an emergency meeting after Angela's done some blood work on all of us, she can go into further detail, but the gist of it is, we're pretty sure Sombra's been drugging us for the two months she's been here so we'll all be too weak to do anything about her stealing Athena."

Jesse's eyes widened. "Them's some serious accusations and hardly any evidence."

Lena nodded. "Which is why Angela's running the tests, if Sombra's Dopamine levels are normal while everyone else's are insanely high then she's guilty."

Jesse was still confused about one thing. "So, what does all that have to do with our senses?"

Lena jolted like she forgot, "ah! If we've become dependent on a drug, naturally, with time, our senses become dull. It could even warp our sense of time!" She shook her head. "It's really scary stuff, at least for me.."

The cowboy frowned, placing a comforting hand on Lena's shoulder. Her sense of time was already delicate as it was. "We'll be alright, darlin'."

\-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

They had landed, the blood had been drawn, the tests were complete; and now the entirety of Overwatch was seated in the cafeteria with Angela and Winston at the head. A cuffed and rather pissed off looking Sombra at their sides.

"You've got it all wrong you  _malditos idiotas_!" She spat.

Winston shook his head, ignoring her in favor of nodding to Angela. The doctor nodded, sucking in a shaky breath; she was nervous, Jesse didn't need his nose to tell him that.

Angela glanced at the tablet in her hands. "We have called this meeting because Athena found a bug in her systems. This bug happened to be the cause of the explosion that we have been investigating since before Sombra came to work with us." 

An exoskeleton of a cockroach looking mechanical bug appeared at the middle of the table. True to Lena's word, tech Jesse recognized from Sombra's own personal upgrades littered the screen in bold statements.

Reinhardt huffed. "This does not mean she had anything to do with it, the young Lady Sombra is... The best word I can think of is 'mercenary.' Miss Sombra is a mercenary, her particular brand of technology must be everywhere by this time!"

Sombra huffed, glaring at the table. "You got that right,  _pendejo_." She muttered.

Lucio nodded. "Besides, didn't that happen like, before the walking copyright strike showed up?" Sombra glared at the jibe, that's funny, Jesse would've expected a return barb; but it seemed as though Sombra was too furious to respond.

Winston sighed. "Yes, but Angela is about to explain why she is under suspicion."

Angela nodded, taking over fully now. "I am sure you are all aware of your dulled senses, being unable to scent out other agents, unable to hear as far as you can usually-"

Lucio made a confused noise. "Really? Man, I just thought my speakers were going bad and everyone's scents were just background noise."

The doctor sighed, and looked down. Suddenly she looked very afraid and Jesse had a bad feeling. "No, I wish it were that simple." She placed her hands on the table, after a moment a chart appeared at the middle of the table, the agents names and levels of something were listed under them. The level of whatever the bars stated were fairly normal, all the way until Sombra's name, hers was very  _very_  low.

"These are the agents of Overwatch dopamine levels, and unfortunately, these levels are far too high to be considered normal. After the results of the blood work came back I found the cause to be a drug called ' _dextromethorphan_.'" Angela shuddered. "It's a terrible drug, responsible in the early 2000's for hundreds of overdosed deaths. It causes a detached state of being, where one feels as though they are having an out of body experience for a number of hours."

Hana frowned. "So it's kind of like playing in 3rd person view on a game?"

Angela nodded. "Precisely, and the reason it was so wide spread is because  _dextromethorphan_  was the main ingredient in cough and cold medicines back then. It was easily accessible and was not considered illegal, unless someone  _witnessed_  the subject taking more than the strictly recommended amount."

Morrison frowned. "So what are you trying to say? I feel like I would remember an experience like that, Ang."

Another sigh, with a shaking finger Angela tapped a key on her tablet. The levels immediately changed, increasing slightly and a single word in big, bold letters stood above the names of the agents in the middle.

_Scopolamine._

Oh, no.

An uproar of outrage filled the room. They had been drugged and promptly forgot all about it, all eyes turned to Sombra's levels, which were absolutely nothing.

Torbjorn howled with a mixture of rage and triumph. "I  _told_  ye she was bad news!"

"Shoot her!" Hana cried.

"Who knows how many secrets she has taken! She could cripple us or kill us all if we do not kill her first!" Zarya yelled above the rest. Jesse was silent, but he could definitely see that 'mob mentality' Angela was always talking about in this instance.

Angela raised her hands and quieted everyone present. "That is not all."

Mei groaned while Zarya rubbed her back in effort to comfort the ecologist. "What  _more_  could there possibly be."

Angela sighed, glancing around the table. "One of the key factors in a high like the one cause by  _dextromethorphan_  is the effect it has on your perception of time. While you are under the effects of the drug, your perception of time slows to almost a complete halt, an hour will feel like an eternity. Because of this, when the effects are lifted, we are unable to track how quickly time passes by." Another click and a chart of Angela's medical examinations was brought up, the measurements included how much time had passed between each examination. As Jesse looked over the data he felt his stomach drop.

Angela sighed, looking down at the table where she had placed her hands. "Jack, how long has it been since we brought Miss Sombra in to work with us."

The man shrugged. "About three months?"

Angela shook her head fervently and bit her lip. When she spoke her voice wavered in abhorrent fear, and there was the smallest  _plip_  of tears landing on the table. "It has been  _fourteen months_."

Silence.

No one dared to speak, no one could fathom the possibility that so much time had passed since the one of their last missions. To Jesse it seemed as though they had retrieved their newest, temporary member only a few scant weeks ago. The possibility that it could have been a  _year_  in actuality was... He couldn't even think of a word to describe how absolutely  _petrified_  he was at the very idea.

Lucio broke the silence, a nervous wave of his hand and a snort. "That  _can't_  be right! I would've  _remembered_  all that!"

Angela shook her head and Jesse could see tear streaks flowing down her cheeks. He couldn't blame her, he was downright terrified himself, but he knew what a strong woman the feminine Alpha was, she would power through the horror and do her best to make the situation right. She would do her best to save her agents, it reminded Jesse of a mother wolf, protecting her pups. "No you wouldn't have,  _Scopolamine_  erases your memory of the prior nine hours to the subject no longer being affected by the drug. If one were to measure the doses for each of us just right... We would have no memory of such events, we would just be very tired. Not to mention it is even more difficult to remember events between doses of the drugs, we would have no idea how quickly time escaped us. I suspect we would, in fact, have been asleep for a good portion of the past fourteen months."

Jesse noticed Angela kept speaking in hypothetical's, though the results from their compiled blood work didn't lie. They really had been under the influence of some seriously strong hallucinogenics, they had lost over a year to someone with their own agenda, they could have done so much to help the world and it all just slipped by. Overwatch was crippled by this point. 

He sighed, "so, that means little miss hacker over there needs to be put down."

Sombra's head shot up from where she had been staring at the table, she bared her teeth and growled darkly. She was challenging him to try to carry out such an action. But before anyone could react, Angela shook her head and brought up the  _dopamine_  chart. "No, I do not think it was Miss Sombra who drugged us."

A conspicuous murmur passed through the agents. "Who could have done such a thing then?" Zenyatta calmly asked from beside his student and his brother. Jesse looked over the elder Shimada and though on the surface he looked like he was fine, to Jesse, Hanzo looked downright sick.

That was another question Jesse had that forced suspicions to the forefront of his mind. How did Zenyatta get drugged? He was a machine, machines don't fall under the effects of drugs that affect human bodies. Why had Zenyatta not said anything or done anything to help the other members? Had the perpetrator somehow hacked his systems? That would be something Sombra would only be capable of, right?

Before he could voice his confusion Angela clicked through the  _dopamine_  levels until the highlight landed on two in particular. "I looked a little further into the increased  _dopamine_  and  _dextromethorphan_  levels, and while, everyone's had direct links with either chemical; there were too that stuck out to me." She sucked in a breath and continued. "Grace and Argenis levels always remained resolutely the same, not once did they lower or increase while ours fluctuated. Not only that, but their  _dopamine_  levels were directly linked together with the chemical compound  _sucrose_."

Winston frowned. "Sugar?"

The doctor nodded. "Exactly! I didn't believe it at first but after carefully looking through a sample of their blood through an old fashioned  _microscope_ , I found that neither of them contained any actual traces of  _dopamine_ ,  _dextromethorphan_  or  _scopolamine_!"

All eyes turned to the pair sitting at the other end of the table, who were looked all to relaxed with the situation. Grace sighed, looking down for a moment, then looking back up to her mate and removing her feet from his lap. "Think they'll be pissed?"

Jesse, Genji, Hanzo and Jack all stood very slowly and carefully. Jesse's hand brushed against Peacekeepers handle.

Argenis shrugged, tilting his head. "I mean, it's not our fault  _they_ -" he jerked a thumb at the agents before them. "-didn't cooperate."

Grace nodded, standing and stretching languidly. "Good point."

Before Jesse could fire off a single shot he heard a predatory shriek and the room went dark.

\----------------------------------------

When he came to, Jesse groaned, his whole body ached. He felt like he had just been hit by a truck, everything hurt, and he couldn't move his arms. He groaned again and began blinking his eyes open as he recalled the last thing that had happened in the meeting.

He sat upright from his position on his side, groaning at how his head swam with the quick movement. He flexed his arms, realizing his wrists were tied together behind his back and he struggled to free them. He froze when he became acutely aware of a warm body pressed against his back.

"Rise and shine, cowboy.."

Jesse growled, shaking his head in attempt to clear the fog. He got a good look at his surroundings and realized he was in the garage with the other agents of Overwatch, all of them in varying levels of consciousness. Each of them were lying next to, or propped up beside the exhaust pipe of a vehicle. "What the hell are you doin', you back-stabbing bitch?"

The Omega hissed in feigned offense, moving to stand in front of him. "And here I thought we were past all the barbs and rude talk. After all, we have some fond memories on that mountain don't we?"

Now Jesse got a good look at her, and he did not like what he saw.

The Omega was now dressed in all black, hair pulled back tightly into a pony tail. She had the twins in their holsters on either side of her chest, she wore a black turtle neck and a yellow bow and quiver were slung across her shoulders to rest against her back. She had on black shorts, on either hip were two short swords connected by a silver chain, she was swinging a wooden bat around lazily and Jesse recognized it as the one Reinhardt had given her for her birthday; a gag gift. Her black ankle boots jingled lightly with each step as she shifted to place the bat on the ground, hands resting on the pommel. She had a gleam in her eye that was malicious, a gleeful threat, a promise that should would enjoy every bit of pain should could extract from them.

"What memories?"

Jesse jerked to see Hanzo shifting into a sitting position against the car next to him, slowly waking up, Jesse could see his arms flexing as he tested the rope holding his wrists behind his back. The American could see the muscle in his jaw jump as he grit his teeth with the realization that he had no means to break his bonds other than the dragons.

Grace giggled. "What? Did the big,  _pretty_  American not tell you?" Her eyes glinted and Jesse gulped. He really did not want what she was about to say to be heard by anyone, especially Hanzo, the heavens only knew if he already had a distaste for Alpha's, and from what Jesse had gathered from the night the two spent talking on the mountain before they wound up in this shitty situation; he believed  _every_  stereotype there was about Alphas and their sexual habits.

Jesse had become rather fond of Hanzo, he detested the idea of the Shimada brother coming to hate him for Jesse's dreadful lapse in restraint.

The elder Shimada growled, his left arm beginning to gleam as the dragons stirred. " _Onna_ -"

Before he could say another work or even release Kyo and Soba, Grace tossed the bat in the air, catching it deftly and swinging it with extreme speed and force so it connected with a resounding  _crunch_  on the glowing shoulder; effectively stifling the power that had been moments from consuming the wielder of the bat. Hanzo fell onto his side with a heavy grunt and Jesse squeezed his eyes shut to block out the image of the elder Shimada on the ground, gritting his teeth against the pain radiating from his left side.

"Ah-ah,  _play nice_  yakuza boy." Grace giggled. Jesse opened his eyes to watch the Omega stepped back, twisting her wrist to swing the bat in a lazy loop. "What's the matter? You pissy I got to sleep with the cowboy before ya?" She moaned, feigning and overly exaggerated pout at Hanzo behind her, before her mouth twisted in a grin.

Jesse winced at Hanzo's sharp intake of air. " _What_?"

Grace outright laughed, her steps echoing through the mostly silent garage. "Oh yeah, and I gotta tell ya, Hanzy boy." Jesse growled at her as she stepped behind him, he felt her take his hat but stubbornly remained facing forward, only to catch sight of it sailing through the air to land behind some crate. He hissed when he felt her naills digging into his scalp and yank his head back to look up into her eyes. "It was a  _damn_  good time." She said, grinning maliciously down at him.

Weren't her eyes purple? The ones he was staring into were blue.

She smirked, apparently sensing his confusion. "What's the matter, cowboy? Got some questions?"

He growled. "That ain't the half of it."

She laughed, shoving his head back down and walking to stand in front of the two, still swinging the bat.

Jesse dared not meet Hanzo's eyes. What he must think of Alpha's now, he couldn't contain his urges long enough to keep from humping a claimed Omega. Even Jesse was disgusted with himself.

"Ask away boys, it's not like you're gonna live much longer anyway." She waved her hand dismissively and moved to rest her hands on the pommel of the bat now placed with the tip on the ground. She looked bored.

Jesse shook his head, he had to stall until one of the two agents awake could come up with a plan. "So, just in a basic run down. You and Argenis drugged all of us into hallucinatory trips that last hours, then drugged us  _again_  so we'd forget about it, blew a hole in our training room, and  _kept on_  drugging us until we lost our sense of smell and hearing?"

Grace tilted her head slightly in feigned thought, Jesse observed she was really good at being a sarcastic bitch. "Yep, sounds about right."

"What about Zenyatta? How'd you get all this by an omnic?"

Grace giggled, wiggling her fingers. "I'm good with computers."

He scowled.

"I understand how you were able to trick us out of so much time, but how did you dull our senses?" Jesse jerked his head at Hanzo's question. The man wasn't looking at him, but he had a determined look on his face and Jesse put two and two together; he was stalling for time until the dragons could resurface.

"Tch." Grace scoffed. "Really? With that much  _dextromethorphan_  pumping through your blood? You guys were on it for over a  _year_  I'm surprised you're still alive!" She laughed a little. "Too much of  _any_  drug will slowly make your senses shut down, it was a sudden stop for you guys because you never paid any attention to it." She looked thoughtful for a moment. "How does the saying go? 'You don't know what you have until you loose it'? You relied on that constant to it's last strands of strength, unrealizing how quickly you were loosing it, not to mention your memory loss, your didn't know it was going away until  _poof_!" She tilted her head and spread her hands in an exploding gesture. "One day, it was gone."

Hanzo grit his teeth. "What do you want from us?"

Grace's grin turned feral. "The location of Gabriel Reyes."

Fuck.

She laughed, a maniacal sound that hurt Jesse's ears. "Come  _on_ , boys! A man brought back to  _life_! That's something any self-respect organization would want to get their hands on!" She giggled at Jesse's horror stricken expression. " _Papi's_  gonna have quite the road ahead of him, even dead men can't hide forever."

"Reyes ain't gonna come quietly, you've got your work cut out for ya. Besides, even we aren't sure how he came back to life." Jesse shot back, he had utter faith that his former Commander could hold his own; but he was going up against two people with mythical powers more crafty than even the Shimada brothers. That would give anyone a run for their money.

Grace laughed again, the moving the bat to rest on her shoulders and an arm hooked over either end. "Really? You don't know?"

"Spit it out, kid."

" _Angela Ziegler brought Gabriel Reyes back to life._ "

"Bullshit-"

"Oh my  _god_ , your voice  _has_  to be the most annoying sound on the face of the fucking planet.  _Just shut the fuck up_!"

Grace groaned, turning and giving the latino man walking towards her a choice gesture, to his credit Argenis was already looking like he had sucked on a lemon. "Go fuck yourself,  _pendejo_! Let a girl have her fun."

Argenis scowled at the woman. "Look, I fucking hate you too, but we're stuck together until we get out of here. So can we just go? Leave the  _idiotas_  to die, or were you planning on riding the cowboy again?"

Jesse sucked in a terrified breath, Argenis  _knew_.

Grace grinned. "I might."

Jesse began struggling, he wanted to scream at her what a shitty idea it was to antagonize an already irritated Alpha.

The latino's expression turned disgusted. " _Dios mio_  I am  _so_  glad we're not mates."

At that, Jesse blinked, stilling. "You what now?"

Grace sighed. "We ain't mates, you fuckin' dumbass. We're coworkers, I like fuckin' older men and the guy who fancies himself a Greek god over here is a bit too young for my tastes." Argenis growled and snapped his teeth in retort.

Jesse could've sworn Hanzo's sigh was one of relief, but in such a situation, observing what he had of the other man, he dared not let himself hope for such a thing. "But your marks..?" Hanzo intoned.

"What? This old thing?" She held up her wrist and the yang half of her symbol glimmered purple before the image dissolved into tiny pixels and crawled it's way to her shoulder, melding in seamlessly with her tattoo. The two men stared, gobsmacked.

"Pretty cool, huh?" She smirked and dropped her arm to rest on the bat again. "Gods are mighty generous when you offer them whole cities in return for power."

" _What_?" Jesse jolted as Morrison stirred on his other side, he looked at the battle worn soldier and he swore. Even Reyes had never looked that enraged before, and while that was terrifying they were both more interested in what Grace was talking about. "What did you  _do_?"

Grace grinned down at Jack, swinging her bat off of her shoulder and using it to gently tilt his chin up to meet her gaze. "Back during the Omnic crisis? You honestly thought  _robots_  destroyed all those cities right under your noses?"

Jack's eyes went wide. "W-what?" He sputtered.

Jesse had never heard Jack Morrison  _sputter_ , but he couldn't find fault in the action, the implications Grace was insinuating were simply too daunting. Honestly, he believed even  _Reyes_  would have sputtered at the Omega's words.

Grace tossed her head back and laughed. "You had no idea! In exchange for being ageless, and some other, various  _perks_ , we gave up thirty-five of your pitiful cities. The omnics were our  _scapegoats_." She giggled. "Everyone needs a good scapegoat."

Others had woken up by now, Angela was across from Jesse and he saw tears streaming down her cheeks. "A-all of those people... You... You just..  _Sacrificed them for your own gain_.." She whispered incredulously.

Argenis sniffed, like it Angela had been speaking of them simply killing a pest. "Of course we did."

"The world was going to shit any way, it would've only been a matter of time before another war started up." Grace added and shrugged. "I mean, it would've happened either way if you think about it. It's a fact that ninety percent of all wars are started because of religion, considering the omnics were something a great many religious folk were starkly against just adds to the tension and would've already triggered a war; but, ever since the  _goddamn Christians_  just  _had_  to come to their senses and left the judging to their ' _god,'_ instead of doling it out themselves like in the good ole days,no one was willing to call the omnics out and say they shouldn't be allowed to continue."

Argenis nodded, turning to walk over to the door leading out of the base, but deigned to add onto Grace's statement. "All anyone needed was a push, really. Everyone is always looking for a reason to fight, where do you think the ' _god programs_ ' came from? That was all us."

Jesse glanced at Morrison to see pure horror and hatred contorting his scarred face, he turned to look at Angela, who was silently weeping while staring at the floor in shock. "You...  _Created_  the god programs?" Morrison whisper.

Grace shook her head, even though Jesse didn't believe for a  _moment_  that she was innocent. "Nah, nah. That was all Skadi and Helios, we just picked the cities where they would start. Skadi and Helios gave us the programs and we planted them in specific cities." She chuckled darkly. "Man, you guys were just  _so_  damn ready to pick a fight! I didn't think we would have to put the rest of the god programs into place after we set up the first one. As soon as we left though, the fighting started, and boy howdy were Skadi and Helios the  _happiest_  pricks I've ever seen." The Omega laughed softly while staring off into space, apparently recollecting the visage.

Jesse was angry now, not only had these despicable lowlifes handicap him and his team for a good few days until they could come up with some plan of attack, as well as find  _some way_  to regain their senses and get the drugs out of their systems, -assuming they could even get out of their current situation- but they had single-handedly caused one of the most devastating wars in the history of humanity. Grace and Argenis were responsible for literally everything that happened during the Omnic Crisis! They were responsible for Overwatch being created in the first place!

These two were the ones to blame for Reyes' current state of undeath, they were responsible for Jesse having ever met Reyes and Overwatch alike, they were responsible for the loss of his arm, they were responsible for loosing so many people to the omnics, so many innocents: dead. Just so they could have  _power_.

Despicable.

"You're fuckin' dead, you  _monster_." Jesse growled, he was struggling to keep his breathing calm; his voice was wavering with the effort of stifling his anger. Every instinct in his body screamed at him to exact revenge on the Omega currently gloating in front of him. When he closed his eyes he could see her blooding out in front of him, payment for the souls of the thousands she had slaughtered. Her imaginary screams in his head were a soothing melody and his blood boiled. The Alpha caged within him  _howled_ , egging him on, encouraging him to annihilate the two that had caused so much devastation.

Grace laughed shrilly. "Oh please! You'll be dead before you can even come up with a plan to catch us." With a snap of her fingers all of the cars, air-crafts, or otherwise engine containing machinery in the garage started up. She giggled and waved, turning to sashay over to Argenis at the door leading out of the garage. 

" _Adiós amigos, ha sido divertido_!"

The door shut with a resounding click, sealing their fates.

" _And the walking copyright strike makes a rather important appearance_."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Edit: I added some stuff to this chapter cuz I felt like I could do more with it, so I did. Some delicious ideas about the lore were thrown in there. Also don't hate me for any offensive speech concerning religion, Grace has a very... blase viewpoint on pretty much everything. Meaning if it doesn't help her and her cause, she doesn't like it. So that's her character.
> 
> So this felt really cluttered, I'll end up coming back to edit it, or I'll give a basic summary in the next chapter. Idk, haven't decided yet. But there you go! It was them all along!
> 
> And boy howdy did they fuck some shit UP.
> 
> Thank you guys for reading, again, apologies for spelling and grammatical errors ( and being short, as always it's super late again) and we'll be back next time with what you've all been waiting for.... Probably.


	7. Saviors and Old Friends

_'I believe you all owe me a BIG apology.'_

"We'll apologize later, for now, can you get us out of here?" Jesse shouted to the ceiling of the garage, stifling a cough as it filled with poisonous fumes.

Hanzo growled, and Jesse nearly wept with relief when his nose picked up the faint note of cherry blossom.

Jesse watched the other mans arm crackle with energy, Kyo and Soba appeared. Chittering and hissing, they gnawed away the ties on their master's wrists. They then split up to do the same to the other members.

Hanzo stood, rubbing his wrists and Jesse sighed as Soba's needle like teeth divested the ties from around his own appendages. He mumbled his thanks and stood as well, reaching to shift his serape to cover his mouth and nose.

_'Now don't freak out, but I've got someone on their way to help and they might not be entirely expected. I can't do anything to help from here, but they can. Just don't shoot them, idiotas.'_

"Who-" Jesse was interrupted by a fit of coughs. Morrison patted his back empathetically. The old soldier was still clearly shaken by Grace and Argenis' revelation.

"I doubt it'll be any of a shock after all of this." He said numbly.

"Think again,  _vieil ami_."

Jesus fuck.

That was all Jesse could think as a window shattered and a certain sniper landed neatly on the floor. She looked over the rousing Overwatch agents with mild contempt, her rifle hanging by her side but Jesse noticed her finger was on the trigger. She didn't trust them and he really couldn't find it in his heart to blame her.

Did  _no one_  stay dead? Was the world just determined to destroy Overwatch  _again_?

"Amelie." Morrison greeted stiffly. 

She nodded in return, before looking to the ceiling. "Sombra, where are they?"

 _'lo siento, amiga. Plans have changed, we gotta work with these guys now.'_  Came the snarky reply.

Amelie scowled, "We do not have time for your silly games, Sombra. We have to get to them before-"

 _'Relajarte! I have a plan! And believe me, it's going to take them a long time before they can get their hands on him.'_ Sombra reassured her, though Jesse found it less so.

The rest of the agents had woken up now, and Angela was ushurring everyone inside so that they could get to the medical bay. She needed to run tests, she needed to flush their systems, she needed to do this and that and Jesse was having a real hard time focusing on anything besides the pounding in his skull.

 _'-explain what's going on then.'_  Jesse barely caught the tail end of what Sombra was saying. 

Damn. The fumes must have really got to him. His head was only seeming to worsen the harder he tried to focus on his surroundings. A memory flashed through his mind, six bodies, blood clouding his vision. His arm  _hurt_ , oh it hurt, as though someone had run over it with a damn train wheel, Reyes was shouting at him to move. The acrid smell of gunpowder and smoke stung the back of his throat, his heart rate wouldn't calm down, the world had been turned over on its head right in front-

_"McCree!"_

Jesse jerked, slapping the hand on his shoulder away and his hand went to Peacekeeper.

Hanzo growled in front of him, brows furrowed in agitation. "What is wrong? You were mumbling and-" His eyes widened minutely. "What is wrong with your eye?"

The Alpha touched beneath his eye, blood was trailing down his cheek.

Fuck.

He started stepping back towards the door leading out of the building. "I-... I gotta go do something, I'll be back later."

Angela somehow managed to hear him, despite her focus being on Hana; who was currently clutching her chest and wheezing alarmingly. "You will do no such thing Jesse McCree! All of us need oxygen masks and IV lines immediately!"

He shook his head, panic creeping up on him. It was oddly grounding, this kind of panic he knew all too well. It wasn't that Jesse relished the terror swarming through his thoughts as blood flashed through his minds eye; oh no, he hated the feeling welling in the pit of his stomach with a burning passion, but it was a familiar enemy he had faced many times before. While it was not welcome, he knew how to defeat this feeling, it was shockingly preferable to the unknown and petrifying situation waiting for them to act upon as soon as they were healed.

"Jesse!"

Hanzo had been speaking to him again.

McCree shook his head, his paces backward came quicker. He was slipping too fast, he had to go somewhere else, anywhere else. "I- I'll be back soon, I promise!" He swore, then turned and ran. He bolted out of the garage and sucked in a greedy lungful of clean air.

As he ran he tried desperately to shut up his damned thoughts, it didn't work in the least.

It was all too much, abysmally too much. He had been drugged, he'd lost a year of his life to a drug, his nose was barely able to scent out hardly anything anymore, his Commander, his father was alive, Amelie was back for however long she would remain, the people responsible for some of the most horrific devastation he had ever seen in his long life were right under their noses, they destroyed Overwatch again with just a couple of drugs and friendly smiles. His senses were no longer able to help keep him grounded, he couldn't hear the heartbeats of his teammates, the rythmic thumping of their collective beings had always managed to pull him into reality when he had been on the edge of a panic attack.

He couldn't hear  _Hanzo's_  heartbeat. He couldn't handle all of this right now, it was too much. 

That thought kept cycling through his mind, viciously and brutally.  _'It's all too much.'_

He stopped at the edge of the cliff, the water crashed against the sheer wall of rock and sprayed his face with a salty mist. Jesse was desperately trying to control his breathing, but it was hard. what made it even worse was his head, dear lord did it hurt, he could barely see!

He knew why it hurt. Dead-Eye always reacted to these situations. No enemies to be found but the ones in his mind.

Jesse screamed, a primal cry to the heavens, imploring them to let him be but of course they would offer him no respite.

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

He was  _there_. Smoke and blood and the world shifting under his feet. Reyes was shouting something at him but he couldn't hear over the blood roaring through his ears, his head hurt, his left side felt like it was on fire. That had to be the reason; he was burning alive and there was no water in sight to douse the flame. His face was wet with blood from someone he didn't know, couldn't know. Bodies were piling up everywhere, the sound of Peacekeeper firing rang dully through his ears again and again. More bodies. Reyes was still shouting, probably trying to locate and help him.

Jesse needed help. He cried out, trying to let the man he had come to accept as his father figure find him. He needed Reyes to tell him it would be okay, he needed the mans unwavering confidence to ground him. There was so much blood, it was all over him. His serape was permanently stained with it, it splashed in his eyes and flooded his ears. He was drowning, and it seemed the louder he tried to call for help the more of it he swallowed.

Reyes' heavy hand was on his shoulder, yanking him back into a broad chest. "What are you doing, Jesse?" He hissed, pulling the other man away from the center of destruction.

Jesse choked on his own sobs. "I can't do it! I can't do all this anymore, Gabe! It's all too much, too many people have died! You died!" He sobbed, turning to look at his Commander.

Reyes shook his head, setting Jesse gently against a boulder. "I didn't bring you into Blackwatch for you to quit now."

"Blackwatch is gone, Reyes! And it's because of that thing!" He fired back. "She was right under my nose! The people who killed you were right there and I didn't do anything!"

His Commander scoffed. "So? That doesn't mean you can't still go find them."

Jesse shook his head, looking at his blood soaked hands. The pain in his head was slowly receding, his eye ached something fierce though. "It's too much... How can anyone be expected to function normally after all of this?" He implored, looking at the other man for answers.

"Jesse, we don't do our job because we can function properly." Gabriel chuckled. "If that were the case Blackwatch wouldn't have existed and Jack really would have had a reason to chew us out for going too far." Jesse huffed a noncommittal laugh at that.

Reyes shook his head and looked at him, eyes boring into Jesse's. "We do our job because we're the only ones who can, we do our job because we believe in a better outcome for the world. We don't do it for us or because we want to,  _mijo_. We do it for the people we care about." Jesse whimpered lamely. "You've gotta keep going,  _mijo_. I know it's hard, I know you're scared and overwhelmed,  but I didn't raise a quitter, and I know there are still people you want to help and things you need to do."

The Reyes Jesse knew very rarely talked to him on such a personal level, his words were seldom so kind and loving. While it struck Jesse as odd, he was not about to turn it away; Jesse had  _missed_  him. 

Every time he had felt his sins crawling on his back Reyes had been there to soothe away the terrors, Gabriel was never the most open with affection, so Jesse treasured those moments where it had just been the two. Silence and a warm cup of coffee, quiet understanding and muted promises that one day his skin would no longer crawl and his shoulders be able to bear the weight. Because the sins never went away entirely, but they would eventually find a quiet place to rest; satisfied that their subject had paid their penance. Jesse knew that Gabe ad originally only liked him so much because he was an Alpha, but as the years wore on Gabe sought him out more often for trips into town, just to drink or relax. Jesse knew that in the final years their family had been spread thin and tensions were so high they rarely interacted with one another, but he had also known that he could trust his Commander. He hadn't been wrong.

Grace and Argenis needed to pay for what they had done to his family.

Reyes was right.

"I'm gonna come find you,  _viejo_."

Gabriel nodded, standing. "You better,  _cabron_."

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------

_"Jesse!"_

McCree shook his head, shaking the fog away and blinking blearily up at a disgruntled looking Hanzo. He realized slowly that he was leaning against the cliff side with the sea off to his right.

"Well howdy there, sunshine." He muttered dumbly, flexing his metal arm and looking over the appendage for a moment.

He looked up to see Hanzo scowling. He was silent long enough to shove a bottle of water into Jesse's hands then he sat down and leveled Jesse with a withering glare. "Explain."

McCree swallowed a few mouthfuls of water and winced. "I don't rightly think it's your business there, partner."

Hanzo scoffed, looking down his nose at Jesse somehow despite the height difference. "You just ran out of a garage in which we were subjected to copious amounts of carbon-monoxide poisoning, without treatment. Such actions could prove dangerous if they were to arise in the heat of battle. I believe it is my business."

Jesse was tired- no, he was exhausted. Everything was going so fast it blurred by him in a swath of faces and aching memories. He didn't know how he was going to cope with the fact that over a year had slipped by because two people just wanted more power.

There was Hanzo though, sitting in front of him. The man wasn't good with displaying affection, or really care at all; but he was there, patiently waiting for Jesse to tell him what was going on the in the hell that was his mind.

Jesse couldn't help the warm flush in his chest, in his life he had rarely known a warm love. The kind that someone gives without expecting anything in return, even his own mother had only given her affection when Jesse had something for her to have in return, something worth more than emotions. Reyes had been a father figure, while gruff and rough around the edges the man had done his best to give Jesse a chance at life; not a normal one, but the only one he could really lead that wouldn't leave a void in his heart that told him he could do more.

Hanzo, though; Hanzo came to him readily for company. A drink here and there, a light, nonintrusive conversation during the unholy hours of the night when their demons hunted them with renewed vigor. A flash of a calculative smile reassuring Jesse that Hanzo would watch his back; razor sharp wit that kept Jesse on his toes and warmed his heart. they were very different people, that was for sure, but somehow at the same time they were more a like than Jesse had ever been to anyone else- too many scars and too many demons.

"I-... I'm havin' a real hard time with all this, Hanzo. Lost so much time, near all my demons were caused by a coupla' scraps lookin' for someone to ruin." Jesse chewed on his lower lip. "I had a bit of a freak out, and I'm sorry. Dead-Eye acts up when I got too much goin' on, it reacts to a threat that's about to make good on handin' me over to the grim reaper; even if those threats are purely psychological."

Hanzo held up a hand. "Kyo and Soba are the same way, if it is painful to speak of I will not push you, but..." Hanzo trailed off. His eyes darting to the side the only sign that he was unsure of how to continue. "Jesse, we care about you. All of us. We have all been subjected to the same things in recent events and while it is hard, it is best to confide in each other- draw strength from one another."

Jesse nodded. "I know, I'm just used to dealin' with this kinda thing on my own. I ain't never had no one to rely on for this; except Reyes but he's been long gone for so long I went back to dealin' with it on my own."

Hanzo sighed. "I was the same way until Genji found me, but it is not a healthy life style." He shifted uncomfortably. "I would like to think that we are rather good friends, Jesse, and I would also like to think that you can come to me if you find yourself with no way to fix yourself."

Jesse huffed a laugh. "I been broken for a long time, Hanzo. Ain't somethin' that comes and goes, I'm always lookin' for ways to fix myself."

"I am aware."

Oh.

Jesse felt his face heat up and he tugged the brim of his hat a little. "I-"

"There is no way to completely fix a broken plate to the way it had been before, but you can turn it into something far more beautiful. Scars and cracks do not mean the piece is flawed." Hanzo interrupted, then stood. "You are welcome to come to me should you find yourself unable to see the beauty in your imperfections."

Oh.

Hanzo motioned for him to follow. "Come, we must rejoin the others in the medical bay so we may be treated for being poisoned."

Jesse nodded dumbly, stood up and followed the archer towards the base. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hoo boy, I struggled with this chapter.
> 
> Real quick before some updates, I'm on Discord! Go find the "Down-The-Rabbit-Hole-Again" chat. Add me as well! @Sass-Girl-Kaella
> 
> For those of you who have already read the last chapter, I would highly recommend going back to reread it because I added some stuff. I got mad with the chapter and felt like I could do more with it so like two days ago I edited some new stuff and ideas that will be pretty important later on.
> 
> I also would like to apologize, but updates will be a little sporadic for a while as I am currently dealing with some mental health issues, I promise I will update as much and as quickly as I am able too, but I don't wanna get y'alls hopes up.
> 
> Much love to these guys for sticking it out with me and actually being interested in the story thus far. I am sure there is more of you but these are the ones that I have noticed thus far. (I really pay attention to comments, thank you to everyone who has supported and read alone despite my shitty update schedule, I love all of you! Also sorry for not doin the name link think to y'alls profiles I have no idea how to do that)
> 
> CactusAss  
> McHandsoap  
> Handsome_Goddamn_Jack  
> Heelium
> 
> Again, apologies for spelling and grammatical errors, I am exhausted. Once this fic is finished I'll be going through and editing the chapters to try and make them better and fix past mistakes.
> 
> Thank you guys for reading!


	8. Snarling and Hissing

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> -sticks hand out to throw a chapter at you-

"Right, now 'm sure 'm not one to be talkin'..." Jesse trails off, pinching the bridge of his nose to stave off the oncoming headache behind his eyes. "But does no one just stay dead?!"

Amelie scoffed, rolling her eyes. "You have known I am not dead,  _cow-boy_."

"Honestly, I'm expectin'  _Gerard_  to waltz through that door any minute." He snapped.

The purple skinned woman stiffened and spat at him. "Keep his name out of your mouth,  _ordure_. You people are the reason he is dead."

"Alright, alright. If you two could put your hackles down for a minute, I've got a plan." Sombra swiftly cut in, she was spinning around on a rolling desk chair nonchalantly. 

After Hanzo and Jesse had entered the med-bay, Angela made short work of sitting them on beds side by side, and hooking them each up to an IV line before giving them both oxygen masks to breathe while they discussed what they were going to do next.

Every agent was on a bed, even Angela was toting around an IV drip; the only two not hooked up to anything was Sombra and Amelie. Though Sombra had been busying herself by following Angela around in a rolling desk chair, smoothly navigating around the rather large, circular med-bay. Amelie had stayed standing by the entrance and stared down the Overwatch agents with her rifle pointed at the ground, but ready to shoot the first person to move. It was unsettling to say the least.

Now, Sombra was spinning in place in the middle. She waited until Angela had seated herself in a bed next to Fareeha, to stop and stand; albeit a little wobbly. "Right, now, I've got Gabe's location. Since we were all under for so long it wasn't hard to find him now that he's resurfaced." She frowned. "But, we've got a problem on our hands."

Hana snorted. "Yeah, we've got Hanzo equivalent's after him."

Jesse stifled a chuckle with a cough at Hana's squawking when Hanzo leveled a glare at her.

Sombra however, did laughed. "Oh, I like you, kid." She sighed airily, wiping a fake tear from the corner of her eye. "While, yes that is a problem, there's something more concerning." Sombra furrowed her brows. "I think he tried to have Talon fix his condition and it didn't go too well."

Jesse outright groaned, leaning his head back to glare at the ceiling.  _Too much_. "Jesus _fuck!_ "

He turned to glare at the room, everyone but Hanzo seemed startled by his outburst. "Alright, I'm just havin' the slightest bit problem with absorbin' everythin' goin' on. So before we really start dealin' with this shit, I got some questions that need answerin'."

Everyone was nodding except Amelie, she scowled at him. "We do not have time for your-"

"McCree has a right to have his questions answered, and considering the ordeal all of us went through for someone that happens to work with  _you,_ not to mention the fact that you have tried to  _kill_  all of us on  _several_  occasions and actually managed to shoot Ana Amari _,_  it is a wonder I have not put an arrow in your skull yet and are helping you instead. Be silent and allow the cowboy to process everything in his own way." Hanzo cut her off with a pointed glare that simply begged her to challenge him.

"Ohhh  _snap!_ " Hana giggled, and Jesse couldn't help the rush of affection and gratitude for the archer.

Amelie curled her lip and spat at Hanzo's feet. " _morceau de merde, archer._ " She hissed before stepping to the side and gracefully dropping into the chair, clearly irritated but giving in.

Hanzo nodded, folding his arms across his chest and straightening his spine. A proud dragon, fluffing up its scales. He nodded curtly at Jesse continue and the American returned the gesture with a grateful smile.

Jesse turned to look at scowling woman in the chair. "First off, why are you helpin'? I can understand Sombra's motives but you don't give a damn 'bout much, Amelie."

Her frown deepened. "It is true that Reaper went to Talon to try and fix his condition about six months ago, but it did not work and, in fact, made him more unstable." Angela sucked in a worried breath, and Amelie's expression shifted. Jesse could just see the concern passing over her face for a half of a second before her features returned to one of scorn. "Reaper, however entangled he might be in Overwatch's past, is a good soldier. It would be a waste to throw away such talent merely because it is my job to despise you people." He gaze swept around the room briefly. "Though I cannot say it is hard to do so."

Jesse nodded, deciding that he would get to Reyes' condition after a few more questions. "Thank ya for bein' honest at least."

She scoffed, looking away with a roll of her eyes. " _Ne vous flattez pas, cow-boy._ "

Jesse ignored the barb he didn't understand, instead turning to Sombra. "If you weren't drugged why didn't you say anythin'?"

Sombra sighed, plopping into the desk chair in a way that could only be described as ungraceful (especially compared to Amelie's display.) "I  _was_  drugged,  _vaquero_. They faked their own examination reports, why it is so hard to believe they did the same thing with mine?"

"I have information concerning that, if it would be helpful, Agent McCree."

Jesse sighed at the monotonous sound of Athena's voice, finally someone who could actually spit out facts and not twist reality around him. "That would be much appreciated, darlin'."

"During the time period in which all agents were under the influence of the drugs known as  _dextromethorphan_  and  _scopolamine,_  former Agents Tesoro and Argenis used Miss Sombra to attack my systems and implant various updates over the time period to wipe any information concerning the other Agents whereabouts. These updates included a plug that blocked my monitors on your internal systems so I was unable to monitor your well being, Miss Sombra was unable to recall doing so because  _scopolamine was_  injected into her system directly before they convinced her to implement the updates in my system. Upon realizing my systems were corrupted, however, Miss Sombra removed the updates." Athena responded without pause.

Winston leveled a glare at Sombra who raised her hands up in innocence, she had removed the harmful technology. "I supposed that's how they were able to fake their medical reports, as well."

"Correct."

Jesse sighed, scrubbing his palms over his face and ruffling his beard for good measure. "Right, well now we know. Last thing I wanna know-" He cut himself off, sucking in a deep breath and turning his head to look at Angela. "-Somethin' Grace said just ain't sittin' right with me, Ang. I know she's lyin' but I gotta ask just to make sure..." He trailed off for a moment, suddenly feeling dizzy and inhaling a breath from the oxygen mask in his flesh hand. After he took a moment to prepare himself for the worst he placed his metal hand on his thigh and his forearm on his right. 

"Grace said that you're the reason Gabe's alive, that true, Ang?"

Angela sucked in a terrified breath, eyes growing wide and fearful and that was all the answer Jesse needed for the Alpha in his chest to snarl angrily, the fury boiling in his chest reflected back on his features as he stared at her. 

"I don't give a damn about the how, what I wanna know is why? Why did'ya have to go and do a thing like that?" He spat, feeling fire licking its way through his veins, pushing his anger and snapping at the back of his mind to be that much more furious. He didn't know where this sudden burst of emotion came from, but he didn't care. Angela had gone and raised a corpse that should've stayed buried.

Angela shook her head and looked at down at the mask she was fingering in her lap. "I-... I missed him, Jesse. He was always such a sure presence, there was no hope left for anything and I just wanted him to reassure me everything would be okay one last time, I was grief-stricken and foolish." Sh suddenly looked up at him with a determined flare in her eyes. "It wasn't right how he died, regardless! From what Sombra has been able to tell us, it wasn't even his own actions that lead the attack on Overwatch all those years ago! Gabriel deserved better than to die a traitor! A large part of me wanted to give him another chance, I wanted him to explain himself and come home! We were a family and you don't turn your back on your family, which you should have intimate knowledge of, Jesse." She spat, baring her teeth like a cornered animal.

Jesse had seen the good doctor become angry and lash out on multiple occasions, she was an Alpha after all, but he had always been lucky enough to not be on the receiving end of such outbursts. Right now though, right now he was too angry, too exhausted, and too overwhelmed to let her get away with the biting words. He took a deep breath from his oxygen mask, closing his eyes briefly before giving her a glare that made even Fareeha shrink away.

"It ain't your place to play god, Ang. Regardless of how Gabe died, he should've been left to be at peace. You're right, I do have know exactly what it's like to leave a family behind, like I did when I joined Deadlock, or when I left Blackwatch; I ain't sayin' what I did was right, but at least I can acknowledge and own up to my mistakes." Jesse growled, his Alpha rumbled with satisfaction when Angela bowed her head in shame; but he barreled on, too wrapped up in his own fury to let the topic go. "At least I came back and I'm tryna' make up for lost time, now we got one of the most dangerous people to ever walk the damn Earth back from the grave and tryna' fix himself because o' your mistakes. What you did was wrong, Ang, ain't no two ways 'bout it."

Jesse was furious, he was tired, and he was especially irritable with the group of people around him; it seemed there was no end to the stupid decisions that people could make these days. He had been trying so hard to do right by a family that seemed doomed to continuously trip over its own feet and drop a rock on his. Did no one have any common sense? You don't bring dead people back to life! That was rule number one!

All of that is what Jesse attributes to the reason the next sentence flies out of his mouth; all of them had fucked up enough in recent history (and apparently not so recent history,) it was about damn time he made a mistake after having a clean record for so long.

"You got a nasty habit of bringin' the dead back to life, doc."

Complete silence follows his words; even Sombra was staring at him wide eyed like she expected him to drop dead in the next twenty seconds.

Jesse let out a long suffering groan, the oxygen was clearing his nose as though it had cobwebs blocking his senses. He could pick up the sharp scent of lightening; Hanzo was angry- outraged is probably a better word, but Jesse really could not care less. He was really tired of the dead coming back to life, old friends haunting his waking hours as well as his slumber. The Alpha in his chest snapped its fangs, feeling the need to threaten those around him, so he growled low in his throat.

Why was he feeling so aggressive? He didn't know and at the moment he really didn't care. There were too many scents suddenly assaulting his nose; having gone so long without his sense of smell made the scents of all his teammates much too powerful. It felt like wading through a swamp of muck, making his head foggy and thoughts cloudy. He growled again, pressing the mask to his face and considering leaving the room.

Amelie spoke up after a moment. "Perhaps it is best that we continue this conversation at a later time, it seems we are getting no where as it is and I am tired, the  _cow-boy_  appears to be in a similar state as well. I suggest adjourning this meeting until we have all had an ample amount of time to rest and recover." Jesse watched her smirk and stand up. "Well, at least you all need time to recover. I will take up residence here until such time we have a plan to make a move on Reaper. I have no desire to return to Talon empty handed."

Jesse scowled, getting up and removing the needle in his arm. He stalked over to the door and paused only to snarl at the French woman. "Yer not takin' him back to Talon, Amelie."

She curled a her upper lip up to show off a single fang. "We shall see,  _enfant_."

Jesse snapped his teeth, before turning and heading out of the med-bay. He needed to get away from all the scents in the room behind him, not only that but he also felt the aching need for a cigar, but his skin felt too hot. He groaned for what seemed like the hundredth time that day and made a beeline for the exit to get some fresh air, hoping it would clear his mind and soothe his feverish skin.

" _Agent McCree!_ "

Jesse growled, turning to tell whoever had shouted his title to kindly go stick their attitude up where the sun don't shine, he wasn't in the mood to be dealing with anyone with the nerve to call him  _Agent McCree_ ; unfortunately though, he didn't get around to it as a fist connected painfully with his jaw. The force of it knocked him flat on his ass and he felt his inner Alpha howl with anger, snapping its teeth and demanding retribution.

Jesse snarled, looking up at his attacker to see Hanzo standing above him. He had never seen the other man so angry in his life; the elder Shimada's hands were curled into trembling fists, his jaw was set in a tight line and his lip was curled back in a snarl. "I will send you to hell myself!  _F_ _uketsuna ikimono_." His rage had his tongue slipping in and out of his native language, and Jesse didn't care to know exactly what Hanzo had called him, all he knew that it had beenan insult and that was all he needed.

Jesse's patience had run out; Hanzo was an Alpha right? He could take a good fight and that's exactly what Jesse was looking for. Well, if Jesse was honest with himself, he didn't give a damn if he was an Alpha, the archer was asking for a fight in his opinion.

With a snarl Jesse launched at the elder Shimada, bringing his fist in an uppercut to connect with the other mans stomach. Hanzo grunted, the air being knocked out of him, then Jesse's arm was being grabbed and another hand was gripping his belt. Hanzo then proceeded to pick McCree up and he was tossed over his shoulder with barely a thought.

Jesse grit his teeth when he landed on his back, he twisted to kneel with one foot propped up and his fingertips brushing the floor in front of him; looking for a break in Hanzo's defense, which was impeccable despite how relaxed and haughty the archer seemed with his lip partially curled up on one side.

Then it hit him.

 _Pine needles and petrichor_.

Jesse felt his Alpha pause along side him, for a moment Jesse and his beast aligned in cocking their heads to the side and narrowing their eyes curiously. Jesse watched Hanzo's brows furrow in confusion and take a tentative step back.

Big mistake.

Jesse hurled himself forward, using his superior body weight to his advantage and pinning Hanzo against the wall behind him with his wrists caught in Jesse's hands trapped against the wall on either side of his head. Jesse felt more than he heard Hanzo grunt at the sudden impact, then suck in a sharp breath at his situation. He felt the shorter mans muscles tense as he tried to pry his arms out of Jesse's hold, but he was having none of that, Jesse was stronger than Hanzo and they both knew it, it all came down to body mass and Hanzo was built more like a cat than a bull like Jesse.

Jesse turned his head and pressed his nose into the crook of Hanzo's neck. He felt Hanzo whimper, then growl in confusion and fear, but Jesse was already inhaling, picking up the sickly sweet scent of Hanzo's fear, but above that, in a much thicker sheet surrounding him was another, much more pleasant scent.

 _Pine needles and petrichor_.

"Omega.." Jesse felt the word reverberate through his chest, rumbling out in a throaty growl that he couldn't stop if he tried. Vaguely he realized that Hanzo was trembling and Jesse was acting like a pup who's knees went weak at the scent of an Omega; but he really could not help it, Hanzo smelled  _divine_. If Jesse had known Hanzo was an Omega before now, he would have made more of an effort to not get attached, but as things stood, Jesse couldn't resist pushing his nose just that bit closer to the scent gland where Hanzo would be marked by his Alpha and the small whimper Hanzo gave in response, tilting his head to the side just a bit to allow the Alpha more room made something primal within him rumble with satisfaction.

Strange. No mark and no scent of another Alpha. Who wouldn't want this little  _minx_  all to themselves?

Then another realization hit Jesse like a fucking train.

He could smell Hanzo's sub-gender and was unable to pull himself away, he was extremely aggressive to just about anyone in sight, the scents of his fellow agents were too much to tolerate, he felt feverish and the only people he had snapped at in the med-bay were Alphas.

Jesse was in his rut cycle.

Jerking back as though he'd been hit with one of Fareeha's rockets he stumbled away from Hanzo, who blinked blearily at Jesse, his eyes were half-lidded and just the slightest bit glossed over, like he was in a daze. Hanzo cocked his head to the side and made a pathetic whining noise, something that spoke to Jesse's Alpha, a primal communication.

_'Why?'_

Another realization: Hanzo was in heat.

The world most definitely wanted to ruin Jesse and any possible relationship he could ever have with any human, he was convinced of it.

He shook his head, trying to pull himself out of the fog. "S-shit, Han, I'm sorry. I think my rut's hittin' me somethin' fierce..." He trailed off, gritting his teeth and closing his eyes while he pinched the bridge of his nose to try and stave off that  _intoxicating_  scent. "And damn if you don't smell like the most delicious thing alive..." He mumbled.

Jesse opened his eyes to see Hanzo's high cheekbones were splashed with a deep rosy color, his eyes wide as he seemed to be coming to his senses. Hanzo shook himself, straightening his kyudo-gi and looking back to McCree with a tight jaw. "I understand why you had a sudden outburst now.." He trailed off and Jesse damn neared moaned when the archers pupils dilated as he looked Jesse over. "But that does not excuse what you have said."

Jesse nodded, gritting his teeth so hard he feared he would crack a tooth, but that was all he could do in effort to keep his senses. "I know, I'm sorry, but Hanzo, I gotta get to my room right now. I'll apologize more later, but I'm 'bout two seconds away from haulin' you in there with me, so if you'll excuse me..." He trailed off, quickly side stepping the stiff archer.

Jesse made short work of getting to his room, he nearly punched the keypad in his desperation to get inside. Once he was in his room, hurrying through the living room/bedroom he shed his clothes and nearly dove into a scalding shower, sucking in deep breaths of the steamy air to clear his nostrils of Hanzo's scent. Jesse groaned, feeling his stiff cock bob with each movement no matter how much he tried to ignore it.

After.. Ahem,  _taking care of himself_  Jesse stepped back into his room, a towel tucked in on itself around his hips and his hair dripping wet onto his shoulders and down his back, feeling much less tense than when he entered. He mumbled to himself about dreamy archers and their problems with simply telling him what their sub-gender was so things like this wouldn't happen, (because really, how is at least letting him know such a bad thing?) while he stepped into the kitchenette, completely ignoring the mess surrounding his bed in the tight quarters.

He must have had some water or something clogging his nostrils, or simply more relaxed after having rubbed one out in the shower, because when he turned around he nearly spit out the mouth full of water he had from the water bottle in his hand.

Hanzo was standing before him with his arms crossed over his chest and his brow furrowed in determination.

"You will apologize now."

The world most definitely wanted to ruin him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> -pulls hand back in-
> 
> There, complete with a cliffhanger.
> 
> ANYONE CATCH WHAT AMELIE SAID AFTER JESSE THANKED HER FOR BEING HONEST?!
> 
> Imma have fun with the next chapter, y'all might hate me.
> 
> Thank you for reading!!


	9. Cat and Mouse

"Hanzo, what the hell're you doin'?!" Jesse yelped, stepping back and holding his breath. "Han- Honey, sugarplu-"

"Apologize!" Hanzo cut him off with a snap of his teeth.

Jesse inhaled deeply, and suppressed the most primal growl he had ever felt rise in his chest at the pungent, woodsy scent of the Omega before him. "I did! I can't do much more at the moment.." He trailed off with a strangled growl, tightly gripping the door frame of the kitchenette. He desperately hoped the archer would catch on.

He didn't.

Hanzo snorted. "You are not dying, I fail to see why you must put this off."

Was it not Hanzo Jesse had pinned against the wall and stuffed his nose in his neck? Had the archer not been there? Jesse sighed, white knuckling the door frame. "Han, listen. I'm startin' my rut, and you ain't on your suppressants- at least I'm assumin' that's why I can pick up on your scent -which is makin' about every bone in my body cryin' out to bend you over and mark you nice and deep." Wow, when did his voice drop that low? Damnit he needed suppressants or for Hanzo to leave in the next five minutes; and Jesse knew which one was more feasible.

Jesse's lip curled in a possessive way when he looked up from the floor to Hanzo's eyes, he saw the archer stiffen minutely, and Jesse growled low in his chest, his nails digging into the door frame so hard the wood creaked in complaint from the pressure. To Jesse's dismay Hanzo lifted his own lip in defiance to the aggressive display. Damn he was stubborn.

"You are not subject to the whims of your biology, Jesse McCree. I am just beginning my own cycle as an Omega and you do not see me desperately shoving you onto the next available surface." The archer rolled his eyes for emphasis.

Jesse was just about to snarl at Hanzo to leave when a thought struck him. "But you're here..."

Hanzo audibly sucked in a sharp breath and Jesse's Alpha rumbled, they had found willing prey.

Hanzo however, scowled. "I assure you, I am here for an apology for your outburst in the medical bay and nothing more..." He trailed off, looking down and to the side. Jesse saw he was eyeing the door, his only escape route.

But Jesse was already moving forward, the first thing that tipped him off that Archer wasn't on sure ground was his steps backwards to retain distance between the two. A smirk crawled its way onto his features, if Hanzo was avoiding him that meant he was struggling himself, normally Hanzo would never back down from a challenge, his heat was taking hold of him fast it seems.

"Han, I know you're in heat, I can smell it on you. You know I'm in my rut, 'cause if I can smell your heat, you can smell my rut; 'specially after what happened in the hallway." He chuckled darkly, taking the few steps needed to back the archer against the wall. Here the scent was stronger, washing over Jesse's senses and easing him into the warmth pooling in his abdomen. "Why're you really here, Hanzo?"

The archer bared his teeth at Jesse, and moved to slip past him; but for once, Jesse was quicker. He snatched up Hanzo's wrists and pinned them over his head, leaving the shorter man no choice but to bare his teeth at the Alpha. Jesse could see Hanzo's pupils immediately flood those lovely iris'- hazel with gold flecks, Jesse had always loved Hanzo's eyes. Now though, he knew what the archer had really come for, (it was a poorly laid ruse to begin with) but Jesse was a gentleman and would not force the archer into the situation unless he explicitly agreed to it.

"Hanzo, say the word and I'll let go. I won't try to influence your decision other than tellin' you that we both know why you really followed me here." He murmured, shifting his hands to hold Hanzo's wrists with one hand and tilting the archers chin up with his index finger of his metal hand, the dragon snapped his gaze up to McCree's eyes, something that Jesse could only describe as fear flashing in those golden iris' in the way he regarded the cowboy. His Alpha rumbled in upset at the sight, pushing words out of his mouth to assuage whatever fears the Omega in his grasp had. "I ain't gonna do anythin' you don't want me to. I don't wanna hurt you; it'd be hell for me to back off now, but if you really want me to- I will."

Hanzo chewed on his lower lip, looking the Alpha over; Jesse could see the war in his eyes and desperately wanted to tempt the archer to stay with him, but the one thing Jesse would never do is use the situation to his advantage to get someone to spend his rut with him. It had to be Hanzo's decision without any influence to what Jesse was sure were already his cloudy thoughts.

Jesse had to suppress his Alpha at the thought of Hanzo denying him; Jesse was not so foolish as to lie to himself, the archer was extremely attractive- anyone with an eye could see that. But Jesse also was capable of admitting to himself that his desires ran at a much deeper current in the ocean that was his emotions. He genuinely enjoyed Hanzo's company; the witty comebacks, the teasing back and forth they had, Hanzo's grounding presence was always welcome, and even though the two would settle into their fair share of companionable silences, occasional debates over random topics that left them both chuckling or outright howling with laughter. Jesse was not afraid to admit that he enjoyed Hanzo's presence probably more than he strictly should.

Jesse didn't realize how long he had been lost in his own thoughts until Hanzo tenatively cleared his throat, the archer was looking away sheepishly and Jesse could see the dusting of a rosey color on his high cheekbones and if that wasn't just the most adorable-

Hanzo tilted his head to the left, leaving his neck exposed and absolutely  _delectable_.

Jesse sucked in a sharp breath, the smell of Hanzo's heat flooding through his nostrils and he couldn't resist nuzzling into the juncture of Hanzo's neck. He lightly pressed a kiss to the spot where a mating mark would go and he couldn't suppress the full body shudder that wracked his body when Hanzo whimpered in response. But he hadn't given Jesse explicit permission.

 

"Han-"

Sirens blared.

Immediately Jesse sprang away, survival instincts overriding the testosterone fueled rut. In his haste to pull out his com from the pocket of his jeans on the floor while simultaneously gearing up for a fight and slammed the earpiece into his ear. After yanking a shirt over his head and beginning to buckle his armor he caught Hanzo's flush of embarrassment as they both came back to their senses. Panicked voices were shouting across the line, he registered Lena's screech of fear and began kicking himself into overdrive.

' _Where the hell are McCree and Shimada?!_ ' Morrison's gruff voice shouted, making Jesse wince as he slung his serape across his shoulders and pulled out Peacekeeper while shuffling over to the door. 

"I hear ya, I hear ya!" He snapped back, gritting his teeth and leveling the side of Peacekeeper with the side of his head. He crouched low to the ground and prepared to exit his room once he figured out what the hell was going on.

"Agent Shimada reporting, status?" Jesse heard Hanzo's dual voice through his earpiece and behind him, a glance behind him revealed the archer had gathered himself as well. Adrenaline fueling his ability to push through the hazy cloud of his heat, Hanzo was crouched just behind him and had drawn and knocked an arrow in his bow that Jesse didn't remember the archer bringing, but was too concerned with the goings on outside of his room to ask. Jesse suddenly found himself flooded with admiration for Hanzo at such a display of self-control.

' _Not entirely sure, loves. Can't even get eyes on what we're shooting at right now. Where are you two?_ ' Tracer quipped over the rapid fire of her blasters.

McCree bit down a flush of embarrassment and heard Hanzo cut off an indignant sputter. Great, now he had to respond. "Barracks." He snapped quickly, "was havin' a friendly lil' chat."

There was a silence over the earpiece for a moment, then Jack spoke up again. ' _I don't care what you two were fighting about, but can it. We gotta kick it in to high gear and figure out what's going on. We're gonna be having a discussion about this later, understood?_ ' He growled with an air of finality. 

Jesse never responded well to Morrison growling at him to pay attention, but Hanzo beat him to a response. "Understood, where are we needed?"

McCree mumbled a similar response, sending a sharp glare over his shoulder that had the Omega stifling a whimper and ducking his head submissively. It satisfied something feral in McCree's chest.

' _Both of you head to Hangar Two. We've got Hangar One covered but no one's on Two, I'm sending Sombra and Reinhardt over as well for back up._ ' they both assented their acknowledgments and began making their way to the hangar. 

Jesse carefully poked his head out into the hall when it slid away after he listened for sounds of nearby conflict. He glanced up and down the hall and finding nothing motioned for Hanzo to follow him close behind.

The path to the hangar was deserted, which struck Jesse as about the most suspicious thing on Earth; but the two could easily hear the reports of gunfire from the other hangar bay not far from their position. As soon as they entered the hangar Hanzo made a beeline for one of the supporting beams and scurried up it to perch on one of the I-beams. Jesse admired the other mans finesse before focusing on the task at hand. Reinhardt and Sombra had yet to arrive, but McCree had flown solo enough times to feel confident with scoping out the garage; he wasn't entirely alone after all, Hanzo was watching from the rafters.

He tapped his earpiece twice, switching to a private channel with the archer while his eyes swept over the covered forms of cargo that still needed to be sorted since the recall. He doubted that they would ever truly get around to doing so though- not unless Overwatch grew to be the size it used to be and that was something Jesse had no desire to stick around for.

Hangar Two had fallen into the role of somewhat of a storage shed. Old hovercars that would no longer properly function lay in disrepair on the ground covered in a thick layer of dust-- dust that hadn't been stirred, Jesse noted. --Piles of cargo and boxes were spread through intermittent spaces between the cars and vans, large white tarps to ward off dust mites and weathering thrown haphazardly over them to make them look like miniature, snow-covered, mountain peaks.

"I'm gonna go ahead and sweep the area, cover my back, will ya?" He rumbled into the ear piece, Peacekeeper at the ready as he started making his way forward at a low crouch.

He braced himself against one of the heaps of cargo. A glance at Hanzo's ribbon fluttering gently with his movement in the rafters allowed him to catch a glance of a sonic arrow flying into the back of the garage. Jesse looked over his shoulder cautiously, making sure his face was obscured by the side of the hovercar to his right, searching for heat signatures. Jesse grit his teeth when he saw about fifty more than he wanted to.

He slumped back behind the cargo, resigning himself to waiting for Reinhardt.

' _I have spotted a Talon emblem on the shoulder of one of the foot soldiers._ ' Hanzo's voice growled in his ear and Jesse bit his tongue, rubbing the heel of his palm with a little more force than necessary across the bugle in his cross; a desperate attempt to calm his rut now that he had a moment to breathe. It didn't help much.

He realized belatedly that Talon was here, and it was probably because of Amelie. He cursed under his breath, then jolted upright when a familiar purple blur materialized crouching beside him. " _Hola, amigo. ¿Quién es?_ "

Jesse narrowed his eyes at her. "Talon."

Sombra scrunched up her nose and cursed under her breath. " _Mierda.. Gracias a ti pendejos, es hora de plan B._ "

McCree didn't recall informing the Spanish Woman that he knew the language. " _¿A quién llamas 'pendejo'?_ "

Sombra waved a hand in dismissal. " _No me dispares_." She murmured, then stood, and walked around the side of the cargo. Holding her hands up and shouted. "Aye! It's Sombra! Put your guns down we've gotta negotiate."

Jesse froze. Negotiate? What exactly where they negotiating? Why were they not informed of this? Is his life a part of the deal? If is they're gonna be given a huge reason why that isn't the smartest of moves.

"Sombra?  _Dios mío_  where the fuck have you been? Reaper's been scouring the entire globe for you!" A smooth voice sounded from the direction of the Talon operatives, Jesse grit his teeth when he looked to see Sombra's eye twitch. Why was Reaper looking for her?

 _Demasiado_.

" _Sí, sí_. That's not what's important right now boys. Right now we gotta get a move on about getting to Reaper in time. Grace and Argenis are hot on his tail and even I can't lead them on a  _búsqueda inútil_  for that long." She responded. Jesse's head was starting to pound and he could feel the Alpha in his chest rattling and growling. He really should stamp it out but this was Talon, and as far as he had been made aware, they were not friendlies.

So, he did what any rut addled Alpha would do with the subject of his desires in the possible way of danger. Something stupid.

"What in the fuck is goin' on?!" He snarled, pointing Peacekeeper at Sombra's head. 

The Spanish woman's smirk faltered into an uneasy smile and her eyebrow twitched as she slowly raised her hands to the sides of her head. "I can explain, if you would please put the damn gun down and  _No me dispares puto!_ " She was looking at him without turning her eyes, he saw the pleading in her eyes but he really didn't think he could handle anymore surprises without someone getting shot at this point.

' _Drop the gun, or loose your head cow-boy._ ' A familiar french accent purred over his ear piece. How exactly did Amelie manage to get onto a private line Jesse had with the archer, he didn't know and right now he didn't care.

' _I would say the same to you as well, Widowmaker._ ' Hanzo growled over the line.

"Well, now ain't this just a nice little Mexican stand off?" Jesse intoned. He stood and stepped behind Sombra. It didn't seem to matter where he was if Amelie was going to put a bullet in his head, might as well make her companion a damn mess if such a thing did occur. 

'... _Isn't a Mexican stand-off with three people?_ ' Hanzo questioned after a few moments of tense silence.

"Yeah, but Sombra here ain't pointin' a gun at anyone, so I figure it works out." He heard Amelie scoff over the ear piece.

" _Dios mío,_ put the guns down, everyone! Starting with you, Amelie! If we're going to get anything done we have to becivilizado about it!" Sombra snarled, looking up at the ceiling where Jesse was sure Amelie had her rifle pointed directly between his eyes. He waved with a sneer just to piss her off.

It worked. 'I will put my gun down when that  _saleté_  does.'

Jesse's grin widened. "She said-"

"I know what she said!" Sombra cut him off with a growl, and Jesse caught a whiff of her scent, all Alpha and making his chest vibrate with a growl. "Amelie, he's in his rut. He is not going to listen to either of us until we give him a reason to, and while I have faith in your abilities as a sniper _yo preferiría no morir! ¡¿Lo tengo?!_ " She finished her sentence with a shout, and Jesse could have sworn he caught the smell of Hanzo's heat pulsing through the room. Oh no, now that would just not do. Reacting to another Alpha, like he didn't belong to Jesse.

Wait what?

He didn't get the chance to answer his own internal question, because Amelie was muttering her assent and he watched a grapple hook shoot out from the shadows and attach to a nearby I-beam. The assassin drifted into view and lowered herself to the ground, where she retracted the hook and placed her rifle on the ground before taking a step backwards towards the Talon agents.

Chaulking his weird internal behavior up to his rut, Jesse grinned and gently released the hammer on Peacekeeper before sliding her back into her holster. He didn't miss the suspicious scowl on Amelie's face and the way her eyes zeroed in on his pistol.

"I ain't dumb enough to step away from my gun with y'all around." He spat, leaning his weight onto one hip and crossing his arms over his chest. 

Amelie scoffed, sticking her nose in the air and looking down her nose at him. " _Votre première décision judicieuse_."

 _Demasiado._  

"Now what did-"

"We greatly appreciate the show of faith, Agent Widowmaker, Agent Sombra."

Sombra stiffened in front of him. "Hanzo, you're an Omega, he's an Alpha in his rut. Please do the math and realize that showing any kind of disrespect right now is a really bad idea.." She trailed off, sounding a little exasperated.

Jesse shot Hanzo a nasty glare at the who Omega cut him off, who did he think he was, talking over an Alpha like that? The brat needed to be put in his place! Which was specifically, underneath McCree, panting and moaning his name.

He saw Hanzo flinch momentarily, before lifting his chin and staring the Alpha down. "Get a hold of yourself, Agent McCree. We have a job to do and you anatomy should not get in the way of that!"

Jesse felt his lip curl and his vision went red. Omega of choice or not, there was no way Hanzo would get away with talking to an Alpha like that.

McCree was just about to make good on that thought when metallic arms wrapped around his arms and chest, lifting him off the ground with surprising strength and cradling him against a hard, and much too large, chest so his feet dangled in the air.

Jesse snarled, kicking at the crotch of whatever was holding him, but the heel of his boot only met more metal. Making the Alpha in his chest begin to panic, realizing they had no means of escape.

"Hah! Not this time  _kleiner welpe_! You have done that one too many times before! I know your games now!" A booming voice roared just behind his ear, Alpha by the scent.

Jesse couldn't rightly discern who was behind him, and he didn't care. All he cared about was getting to the Omega across the room and breeding. McCree's felt his sight go into tunnel vision and then he was too focused on scent and sound to really use his sight anymore.

"What is  _wrong_  with him?" The Omega.

"I believe you would call this 'sensory overload.' Because our dear Jesse is in his rut it has left him a... Beast of sorts, too much going on and his brain shut down to only the most necessary of functions." The voice behind him grunted, trying to still Jesse's thrashing. "Unfortunately, the body counts this as a necessary function."

"Shouldn't he be under observation if he cannot control himself?" The damn sniper.

"He would have been if he hadn't left the medical bay earlier..." The voice trailed off with a grunt when Jesse grit his teeth and threw his head back in effort to bash the skull of what was holding him. "I will take him to Angela now, he needs to be restrained."

" _S'il vous plaît faire_ " Jesse didn't rightly know why, and he really didn't care why; but he needed that voice to be silent.

" _Bitte vergib mir, kleiner Welpe._ " He heard the voice behind him murmur in a language he couldn't even grasp at the possibility of understanding right now.

And then black.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey everyone! I'm back!
> 
> I'm sorry I took so long to bring this chapter out, I was at a total loss with this fic and had no idea what to do BUT GODDAMN HAVE I GOT SOME IDEAS NOW. 
> 
> Just a heads up, I'm gonna be adding some new tags tomorrow cuz this fic is GOIN A NEW DIRECTION THE FUN HAS JUST BEGUN LADIES AND GENTS LET'S GET BUSAAAYYYYYYY
> 
> Thank you all for being patient and reading despite my shitty upload schedule, and any mistakes in grammar or language translations! Thank y'all so much, we'll be elaborating more on Jesse's lil break down in the next chapter!
> 
> Thank you guys for reading!!!


	10. Is It Hot In Here?

Hanzo grit his teeth and clutched Stormbow a little tighter. He eyed the Talon members warily as Reinhardt laid an unconscious Jesse on the ground carefully. Everyone bone in his body felt almost physically pulled towards the Alpha to make sure he was okay, but Hanzo was above falling prey to his Omega. He had a job to do.

He tapped the earpiece twice to reopen the normal com channel. "Agent Mercy, your presence is needed in Hangar Two."

' _I am on my way, what happened?_ ' Dr. Ziegler responded, she sounded out of breath and he could hear the faint clicking of her heels as she ran through the halls to their position.

"Agent McCree succumbed to his rut, Agent Reinhardt had to incapacitate him to keep him from harming anyone." He responded coolly, eyeing Widowmaker when she scoffed and picked at the dirt under her nails.

Mercy sucked in a sharp breath. ' _Reinhardt, what did he do?_ '

"It was just like last time, I am afraid." Hanzo was surprised at how quiet and mournful the bear of a man sounded. "It seems our dear Jesse has a long road ahead of him."

"A long road he cannot afford to take. Give him some suppressants because we gotta move, amigos." Sombra interrupted, she lowered her hands and turned to look at Reinhardt and Hanzo. "Look, these boys aren't going to attack. We're here to strike a deal, because with what we're going up against we're going to need an army. We can go back to hating each other later." Sombra explained and Hanzo had to fight the instinct to lower his gaze submissively. He should probably ask the doctor for suppressants as well.

Reinhardt looked the Hispanic woman over before nodding and tapping his ear piece. "Requesting Agents Morrison and Tracer to report to Hangar Two, we have some things to discuss."

' _Affirmative, it doesn't seem like whatever blew Hangar One open is going to be attacking. We'll be there in five._ ' Morrison's voice growled in Hanzo's ear and he had to repress the tingling his spine. He really needed those suppressants, Morrison was an Omega for heavens sake!

Before Hanzo could scold himself mentally further, a halo of gold flooded the Hangar, coming to rest beside Jesse. It was Mercy, Caduceus out and golden light pouring into the cowboys body. Her brow was furrowed and she was rummaging around in a bag she had brought with her. "Reinhardt, how many times have I told you  _not_  to knock him unconscious and to wait for me to sedate him when this happens?" She addressed the German who stood up and crossed his arms over his chest.

"There was nothing for it, Angela! The pup would not still!" He explained and the doctor shook her head. After a moment she set the Caduceus down and took out a syringe and a bottle, she plunged the needle into the clear liquid and began filling it.

Hanzo immediately stiffened, his Omega refusing to be ignored when an unknown substance was about to be injected into the Alpha of his affections. "What is that?"

Mercy didn't even turn to answer him. "A sedate, to ensure he stays unconscious until I can get him into my medical-bay. He cannot afford to be put on suppressants now, interrupting his rut cycle could be detrimental to his ability to reproduce." Hanzo barely suppressed a mournful whine at the prospect.

Sombra, however, didn't seem to care. (As usual,) "I'm pretty sure we don't need any more of him running around this place." Morrison and Tracer chirped their greetings as they entered and froze when they saw Amelie standing in front of Talon operatives, with her rifle on the ground.

Morrison was the first to speak. "Well, I'm gonna assume you all caused the ruckus, but what's going on? If Widowmaker's gun is on the ground than that means-"

"Yes, yes, temporary truce and all of that. Anyways, Sombra has aquired some information of great importance to the mission." Amelie interrupted with a look of boredom. Hanzo inhaled subtly and caught the scent of a Beta coming from her, funny, Hanzo would've pegged just about everyone he came in to contact with as an Alpha; but he had no room to judge.

Morrison sighed, scrubbing a hand over his face in exasperation. "Is there no end to the amount of information we can find in a day?"

"Nope! Now listen up." Sombra piped up, turning and rocking on her heels with her hands on her hips. "You're gonna have to accept this as truth because, I mean, if  _niño dragón_  over there exists, these guys can." She said, jerking a thumb over her shoulder in Hanzo's direction.

Tracer growled at the Alpha. "I don't have to believe a thing you say! Those are Talon operatives, listening to your command! Didn't you tell us you weren't working with them anymore?!" She spat, pointing at the foot soldiers behind the Hispanic.

Sombra sighed. "Look, I had to get you to trust me okay? Now before you shoot me listen to what I have to say," She shot a glare at Tracer who trembling with barely restrained hostility.

"Okay, so. Grace and Argenis. Don't you think it was a bit of a...  _coincidente_  that they just so happened to be bounty hunters like Jesse? And that they could summon spirit beasts, like Hanzo?" She intoned with a raise of her eyebrows.

Hanzo blinked. Now that he thought about it, it was quite odd. He had thought as much when Grace told them of their story, but she had been so endearing that he decided not to question it. Which that fact alone should have been enough to rile Hanzo's suspicion. He had not even looked into their files, let alone their individual pasts! What had he been doing for a year? Sitting about like a slob? Where were the dragons during this time? He would have to speak with them as soon as the opportunity presented itself.

Looking around the others had similar looks of confusion played out across their features. Jack looked the most concerned of them all, looking at the ground with his brows furrowed. If Hanzo could see past the visor he was sure there would be a deep frown set on the old soldiers features. "I didn't look much into their back story when they were brought on, why didn't I?" Morrison whispered almost to himself.

Sombra, ever the one with that held all the answers, answered. "Because, they didn't want you to. This is going to sound a little  _loca_  but it's the truth, alright?" She took a deep breath and waited for the others to focus on her. "They're demons."

Tracer snorted and Mercy sighed. "You still on that dextro-whatever stuff, love? Because that  _is_  crazy." The younger woman hissed with a smirk on her face. Hanzo never would have guessed it from his first impression of her, but Lena Oxton could be mean as hell if she felt like it.

Sombra rolled her eyes. " _Dios mío, cállate._ Let's start from the beginning okay? Does everyone have a firm grasp on what the  _Siete Pecados Capitales_  are?"

Everyone was nodding but Hanzo just stared in confusion. He knew the basic idea of the Seven Deadly Sins, but most of the religious lessons of his childhood were centered around his spirit beasts. Not to mention that the Seven Deadly Sins were originally of Christian origin; something that did not have a firm grasp on Hanzo's childhood.

Morrison apparently sensed his confusion. "Basically the Seven Deadly Sins are a grouping of vices made by the Christians way back in the fourth-century, at least I'm pretty sure that's when it all started; but anyways the Seven Deadly Sins are Pride, Greed, Lust, Envy, Gluttony, Wrath and Sloth."

Everyone was silent and stared at Morrison, he shrugged. "Religion is interesting sometimes."

Sombra clapped lightly. "Well done, concise and to the point. I'm proud of you!" She wiped a fake tear and Morrison sneered. "Now that that's out of the way, little known fact is that the  _Siete Paccados Capitales_  are demons- real life, in the flesh, demons. But the thing about these guys is, they come and go based on the worlds current facet of interest."

Reinhardt shook his head, moving to sit down on one of the cargo piles. Hanzo noticed that the Talon agents, including Widowmaker had decided to take seats as well, as though the peace wasn't held together by an over zealous purple popsicle. "Miss Sombra, you are not making sense."

Sombra nodded, waving a hand. "Ahm,  _¿cómo explicar esto?_.." She trailed off for a moment, looking down with an elbow resting on the arm tucked across her midsection and her other hand rolling her lower lip around between her thumb and index fingers' nails. "The  _Siete Pacados Capitales_  are demons, only their power relies heavily on whatever humanity is obsessed with. Remember World War One and Two? What do you think consumed humanity at that time?"

Mercy breathed a sigh. "Wrath.."

Sombra nodded solemnly, even she wouldn't joke about such devastation. "Exactly. The Roaring Twenties was Envy, and I'm sure there are more examples I could give in which one of the Sins had their time to shine- but I'm a little pressed for time." She brought up a purple hexagon and began furiously tapping away and milling through information. "So the  _Siete Pacados Capitales_  rely on humanities obsession over whichever one of them in order to materialize into a physical form. Now I know this all sounds a little far fetched, but if he were awake, I'm sure Jesse would attest to what I'm about to tell you." She said with a glance at the unconscious cowboy.

Mercy immediately stiffened and shifted a little to block her patient more effectively. "What are you talking about? Hasn't he been through enough?"

Sombra shrugged. " _No sé, no me importa_. The point is, the biggest sin going on right about now is Lust." A large hexagon with Grace's face on it grinned at them from above Sombra. There were subtle differences in Grace's visage though, she was holding up a felon sign and the background looked like she was getting her mug shot taken, and she was grinning at the camera with a feral kind of glee. Her hair was red at the tips, she had two fangs peaking out of lips that looked to be made of red gem-stones, hypnotically gleaming in the light and-... Hanzo narrowed his eyes; were her iris' a purple nebulae?

Sombra seemed to catch on to his train of thought. "Yeah, her eyes are purple. Because in ancient times the colors purple and red were associated with prostitutes, if you wore those colors generally you were open for sex. Which just about fits Lust's profile."

"But I don't get it, if she's part of the Seven Deadly Sins then which one is Argenis? And where are the rest of them? Also, shouldn't Wrath be the big guy right now considering everything going on with the Omnics?" Lena interrupted.

Hanzo had the feeling Zenyatta would be very interested in this conversation.

Sombra nodded. "Argenis is Wrath, and while don't get me wrong, it's a really big part of humanity right now, Lust is even bigger because of inter-species couples. Meaning the Omnics and Humans going to town without the slightest bit of care concerning the consequences." Sombra chuckled, rolling her eyes. "Anyways, when a new source for their particular Sin rolls around, the Sin itself triples in power, attaining the ability to materialize. But as for the rest of them, I'm pretty sure their holed up in Tekani."

Hanzo snapped his gaze to Sombra. "Tekani?"

She smirked. "Oh yeah, did you not know? That isn't some spirit hold, that's where the Sins reside if they can't materialize themselves. They told you guys a lot of lies, first, her cat wasn't given to her by a god, the cat itself is the sin Envy, and Argneis-" She cut herself and flicked her wrist. Lust's picture slid to the left to allow a picture of Argenis (or Wrath rather,) glaring at the camera with a curled lip in the same mug shot setting as Lust. His hair was literally on fire, in fact, the entire left side of his face looked like the skin had been replaced with molten lava that flowed down his neck and beneath the color of his shirt. "Argenis', or 'Wrath's', Phoenix was actually Pride. I'm surprised he didn't make you all recognize his presence more often. He was probably scared of Wrath come to think of it.." She mused to herself.

Reinhardt shook his head. "So the two biggest Sins came out to trick us? To what? Find Commander Reyes? What could they possibly gain from a mortal?"

Sombra sighed, and waved a hand, to shatter the pictures above her. "About that, you see if the Sins could figure out how Gabe is able to alter his form so completely, to de-materialize and materialize whenever he felt like, than they-"

"Could do it themselves.." Mercy finished.

Sombra looked a little peeved at being cut off but nodded. "Exactly, which is what we're trying to prevent. Gabe went underground in the first place to give us time to pin down Lust and Wrath and these guys-" She jerked a thumb over her shoulder at the lounging Talon agents. "-Were the round up crew to bring the two in. _Sólo que aparecieron demasiado tarde._ " She shouted the last sentence with a pointed glare over her shoulder.

"Tch.  _No es nuestra culpa que te hayas drogado por un año_." Came the smooth reply.

"Ah,  _Vete a la mierda, Kajat_." Hanzo caught the small smile on Sombra's face and the teasing lilt to her voice, evidently "Kajat" did as well because there was a light chuckle in response.

"Wait, wait." Hanzo's attention went back to Morrison, who had his face in his left hand. "You're telling me that Talon used Overwatch to get close to demons that are supposed to be the Seven Deadly Sins, who are after one of Overwatch's old commanders so they can take on physical forms whenever they want to.." He trailed off, lifting his face to stare Sombra down. "And you didn't think this was important information for us?"

Sombra grinned. "Pretty much. We didn't want to get Overwatch directly involved because we wanted to keep Gabe."

Mercy bared her teeth at the other Alpha, reaching down to clutch Jesse's hand. "You are not taking Gabriel back to Talon with you! He needs to be properly treated for his condition and-"

"Doc, we can hammer out the specifics later. For now we need to get going to Tekani. If we take out the weaker Sins before we face off with Lust and Wrath we might have a chance, right now they're still out hunting down Gabe, who I have hidden away." Sombra interrupted, waving her hands in exasperation while simultaneously dissipating the screens in front of her.

Hanzo was just about to agree when he felt a powerful roll of his heat flood his senses and he bit his tongue so hard he could taste copper, to stifle the pathetic whine bubbling up in the back of his throat. "That-.. I will have to take some time to prepare, Dr. Ziegler I would see you immediately if possible."

Mercy nodded, gesturing for Reinhardt to pick Jesse up so they could go to the medical bay. As Hanzo passed Sombra she scoffed and could have sworn he heard her murmur. " _Arcero gay inútil_..."

Hanzo ignored her, and followed Mercy and Reinhardt out of the Hangar and down the hallway towards the Medical Bay; leaving Morrison and Tracer to deal with the absurd Talon Agents.

"Hanzo? How long has it been since your last heat?" Mercy's soothing voice from in front of him jarred him out of his struggle with the very subject she spoke of.

He shifted uncomfortably, clenching his backside together to prevent the trickling of slick he knew was coming. "With or without suppressants?"

Mercy paused and looked at him curiously, waving a hand in front of the bio-metric scan to the locked down Medical-Bay. "Let us say without, hm?"

Hanzo shifted again, biting the inside of his cheek. When did he become so fidgety in the presence of Alphas? "I-I believe I have not had the chance to properly tend to my heats since my father was alive. He had been attempting to breed me to another clans' Alpha son in order to barter a peace treaty with the pup." He resisted the urge to scrunch his nose at the memory. Bokou was the Alpha's name- Hanzo never liked him. "I believe I was eighteen."

Mercy whirled around, nearly impaling herself on Reinhardt's arm, (who -thankfully- had the sense to move his arm out of the way as he walked by to set Jesse on a bed.) "You have gone without a proper heat for twenty years?" She accused, clutching her Caduceus to her chest like he had lashed out at her.

He raised an eyebrow. "Yes, I did not have the time for such matters when I left Hanamura."

Mercy seemed to realize she had touched on a sensitive subject and back pedaled. "I understand the conditions in which you decided it was necessary, but you should have informed me when you came to Overwatch, I would have been able to assist you before something like this would have happened." She told him sternly. Angela looked like she was about to say more but then her eyes lit up and she turned to her tablet, and Hanzo had the bone deep sense that she was up to something.

"What-"

"Shh!" She ordered, turning away and stepping quickly over to Jesse's bed. Hanzo grit his teeth, angry that his Omega willingly silenced itself in response to the order; he decided to blame it on his heat, because really he never would have let anyone get away with attempting to silence him like that.

"Reinhardt, please go get out of your armor. I will need your help when I wake Jesse and he will not take kindly to an imposing figure standing over him... Well, more imposing than you already are." Reinhardt nodded and left while Angela fluttered about, injecting Jesse with some substance that Hanzo did not know the purpose of and retrieving leather straps from the drawers in the circular island in the middle of the room.

After a few minutes of Angela monitoring Jesse's vitals; Reinhardt returned in a rumpled, sweat stained black shirt and tan colored army fatigues and boots, looking every bit the soldier he was.

Angela walked around the bed to adjust one of the straps on Jesse's ankle and spoke to Hanzo. "Mr. Shimada, given that your heat is severely overdue I have a proposition to make to both you and Agent McCree when he wakes up." She paused in feeding the leather tongue through the metal catch to look him over. "An offer I doubt you will refuse."

Hanzo couldn't stop the irritated twitch and raise of his eyebrow in response. "We shall see."

Angela gestured to Reinhardt for him to hold onto Jesse's shoulder while she picked up a needle and prepared it by the Alpha's neck before she spoke again. "Agent Shimada, I need you hold onto his ankles. Agent McCree is bound to throw a fit when he wakes up." She informed.

Hanzo nodded and did so, biting the inside of his cheek to stamp out his Omega's longing keen. "Ready."

Angela nodded and stuck the needle into McCree's neck, drawing back slightly before depressing the fluid into the Agents body.

She recoiled the instant McCree shifted, which turned into a shout and a giant upheaval as the Alpha attempted to sit up. Reinhardt was far stronger than he though, and easily kept Jesse lying on his back. Hanzo's eyes widened at the violent display, instinctively clutching his ankles tighter and allowing the tiniest whimper to escape.

Angela nodded and placed the syringe on tray beside her, snapping the fingers of her other hand in front of Jesse's eyes. "Jesse? Are you with us?"

McCree nodded, breathing deeply while clenching and unclenching his fists- attempting to get his bearings. "You gotta-" He cut himself off and cleared his throat when his voice came out hoarse. "You gotta warn a man before you go stuffin' him full 'o adrenaline like that." The Alpha let out a wry chuckle.

Reinhardt patted his shoulder and stepped to stand beside him where Jesse could see him. A move that any other would accredit to Reinhardt wanting to speak to Jesse face to face like a good friend; but Hanzo knew it was really the older Beta moving to let the Alpha know his presence was not a threat. "You put on quite the show, Jesse."

McCree's right arm twitched as a sheepish grin spread across his face, if he were not in restraints, Hanzo was sure he would be rubbing the back of his neck in embarrassment. "Yeah, sorry 'bout that big fella'. Don't rightly know what came over me.." He trailed off looking away in a show of apology, impressive for an Alpha.

"Your rut came over you." Angela informed, tapping away on the tablet in her hands. Hanzo stiffened when Jesse curled his lip at her, still fully in the clutches of his rut, but at least a little more lucid.

Sensing the other Alpha's rising temper- Angela raised her free hand in a placating manner. "I am here to propose a deal for you, and Agent Shimada, because we are running very low on time concerning the retrieving of Commander Reyes." Hanzo noted she was very careful to use the mans honorific title, rather than his given name. A smooth alteration to calm the Alpha further.

Jesse's head whipped to the foot of the bed where Hanzo was standing... And still had his hands on the cowboys ankles. Hanzo quickly yanked his hands away, looking as though he had just remembered leaving his hands on a lit stove for too long and folded his arms across his chest; pointedly ignoring the look of longing Jesse gave him by turning to address the doctor. "What would you have us do?"

Angela worried her lower lip between her teeth for a moment, furiously tapping away at the tablet before nodding to herself and coming to a conclusion. With a resolution that made Hanzo's stomach drop she addressed both of them, "you two are one of the most compatible Alpha/Omega pairs I have ever seen. Your chemical dynamics as Alpha and Omega are striking, and I believe it would benefit you both and the team greatly if you were to spend your heat and rut cycle together, seeing as how they aligned so perfectly. After your cycles are finished we would immediately need you on the field, but if an Alpha's rut and Omega's heat are endured -but left unattended to- it would leave both subjects in dreadful states of disrepair that need to be recovered from for several days. By spending your cycles with each other, you would both avoid such consequences and would be able to assist in the mission much sooner."

Hanzo resisted the urge to moan out loud at the idea of spending his rut with McCree and was too wrapped up in his own misgivings about the situation to notice Jesse had let out such a sound.

Hanzo knew himself well, he was above all honest with himself and dutiful. (Because where was the honor in being neither of those things? Lacking either would make him very much less of a man.) He had done very wretched things in his passed that made the skin on his back crawl, he did not deserve the comfort of sharing his only heat since leaving the Shimada Clan with such a fine Alpha; let alone a friend he had come to care a great deal for.

A small smile threatened to flutter across his features. Yes, he did care for Jesse more than he would admit to the cowboy. Jesse had a tendency to appear when he was needed, he reminded Hanzo of a cat more than a dog if he was honest: Always in the same room (even though they insist it is just coincidence,) sitting beside you just to keep you company, (even though, really, they could care less where they reside and they just like you for warmth,) insisting on conversation that you weren't even sure you even wanted to engage in, and how could he forget the adorable ritual of bringing gifts to ensure his companion is healthy and happy when feeling down. (Sake, treating Hanzo to authentic ramen when they're lucky enough to find some, meaningless souvenirs, trinkets really.)

Jesse always made sure he was around and though the cowboy often didn't know what to say when Hanzo was battling his own demons, he never failed to lend an ear, and despite all of Hanzo's insisting, he would never leave the archer alone when the alcohol flowed and sleep was not a welcome mistress. Even though Jesse had the mark that declared his soul belonged to another, he never failed to ensure Hanzo's life -since coming to Overwatch- was filled with the sound of a New Mexico whiskey drawl, and the scent of gunpowder and a christmas fireplace.

He shot a quick glance at the cowboys upturned wrist, the younger man engaged in animated conversation with the doctor. McCree had a soul mate- someone he was destined to be bound to for life, while Hanzo had no such mark. He did not deserve such a mark; if McCree mated with Hanzo (like the archer sorely wanted him to,) his true mate would surely kill Hanzo out of jealousy. Hanzo would not let himself die easily, (he was a warrior after all,) but he could not find fault with being killed in such a way. He wondered if McCree would stand by and let it happen.

Of course the cowboy would, it would be his soul mate killing Hanzo. McCree would surely simply let the problem solve itself.

 _That_  made Hanzo's Omega growl with jealousy, a frown beginning to pull at the corners of his mouth. Of course; how else would McCree think of Hanzo? Hanzo was not his soul mate therefore he was just something nice to pass the time until such a person decided to make themselves known to the cowboy, then Hanzo would be left alone and to his own devices. How could he be so blind?

But above all else, Hanzo reminded himself that he was dutiful, and his team needed him to sate the Alpha's rut so they could track down some of the most deadly opponents the worlds had yet to see. He suddenly remembered Skadi and Helios- the story Grace (or Lust rather,) had told them in the garage. Where did they fit in with all of this? Was that a lie too just so they continue to play at the ruse of being human? Were they really the cause of the Omnic Crisis or was it a convenient lie?

"Hanzo?"

Hanzo looked up to see three hopeful looks on the faces of the people before him. Another thought struck Hanzo about the situation that he felt the sudden need to address. "How many know the nature of my sub-gender?"

Angela blinked at him confusedly for a moment. "Well.. I believe only those of us in this room, I did not know you were an Omega until I scented your heat in the Hangar. But I suppose that would mean those in the Hangar know as well."

A headache was forming quickly, he would have to address the matter later. For now, he would do what had to be done for the sake of his fellow Overwatch members.

Gabriel Reyes better be kissing his ass until kingdom come when all of this was over.

"I agree this would be the best course of action, however-"" He sent a pointed glare to the grinning cowboy. "I have some conditions."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Whew! That took a long time to upload (more on that at the end of these notes.)
> 
> ANGST AHOY
> 
> Thank y'all for reading, I'll get to spelling and grammatical errors when I get back to this whole thing, and don't worry, we'll be answering Hanzo's questions soon. But for now, we'll be getting to some fun parts.
> 
> Please be informed ahead of time that I have never written these fun parts! I will do my best, but try to be gentle because I am a newborn penguin just kinda stumbling through everything and somehow doing something right (sometimes).
> 
> (If I got anything wrong about the Seven Deadly Sins lemme know please, I don't know much about those guys but I also wanted to add my own twist to their story, mainly just worried about getting their origins right tbh.)
> 
> Another note about the Sins. I used Wrath as the main Sin that appeared in WW1 and WW2 because while I do think there are good arguments for Greed (and I think they were involved to some extent) having been a big player, I think Wrath was the head honcho in that arena. Most of the countries involved in WW's 1 and 2 got involved in retaliation to some action caused by another; and while I'm not arguing with anyone's reasons for doing so I think Wrath was right along side them, goading them on to make the decisions they did.
> 
> The next chapter is basically going to be erm... EXPLICIT so if there are those of you who prefer not to read it, you're gonna have to wait until the chapter after next for more plot stuffs.
> 
> Now, about why I took so long to upload this chapter.
> 
> Two weeks ago, when I was about to upload this chapter I got a call from my father informing me that my Uncle has developed Esophageal Cancer. As one can imagine, none of us took the news well and I will be flying home in a matter of days to spend time with him and the rest of my family for a couple of weeks. 
> 
> Because of this unfortunate situation, this fic is on hiatus for an undetermined amount of time. It will last at least until I return home and have a clear mind and can put out quality content, because as much as I would love to continue writing this, I feel it would get more off track than it already is. So I greatly apologize, and thank you all for bearing with me through my horrendous upload schedule.
> 
> Thank you all for reading as always!!!


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